How does the road play this crazy trick on us?
Most simple answer:
Simply put explanation:
You are actually seeing the reflection of the sky in the asphalt. The top of a body of water reflects the sky as well. Your brain makes you believe that there is water on the road, due to the similar and familiar reflection that is seen in water!
Think of it like this: You can see your reflection in a bathroom mirror. You can also see your reflection in a tinted car window.
Are you looking at the same thing? No, your bathroom mirror clearly is a different thing than a tinted car window.
Do you see a similar reflection? Yes, you will see your face in both the bathroom mirror and the tinted car window.
You are seeing the reflection of the sky in the road, similar to the one you would see on the top of a body of water.
Why does the road reflect the sky? (slightly sciencey answer):
This happens due to the actual path taken by sunlight, which is affected by the temperature of the different layers of air above the asphalt.
The Light's Travel, through different layers of air:
-Moves faster in hotter and thinner air.
-Moves slower in colder and more dense air.
-Air right next to asphalt is hotter than air layers higher up.
-Light from the sun crosses these layers of air on it's way down
-The beams of light closer to the asphalt travel faster than the light right above, thus bending the beams of light.
-The bending action is actually re-routing the light from the sky to your eyes, causing a reflection.
-this gives you the impression that the light is coming directly from the asphalt. You think there is water on the road reflecting the sky.
Conclusion: We think we are seeing water that is reflecting the sky, on the road. This is due to the similar reflection that we see from the bent rays of light that are traveling through the different temperature air layers, above the road.
