Where Is the Fish, Really?Dylan LamAward: Top 100
School: canyon crest academy Have you ever looked in a fish tank and admired how gracefully they swim? Everything you are seeing is a lie. The fish isn't where it appears to be, and here's why. As demonstrated by the ruler in this photo, when light reaches a boundary, crossing to a medium with greater density, light will slow down. In fact, it slows down enough to trick your brain! Your brain cannot trace each light ray from its individual paths at each boundary - it can only trace it back through a straight line. Thus, as light changes medium, it presents the fish in a different position than what it actually is. If you were to put your hand there, you would not feel anything! The same applies to the bright green fish on the left - it is actually in a position slightly to the right of where your eye perceives it. This is the same reason why spearfishers aim slightly below their target, since the bending of light causes it to appear higher than it actually is. While this phenomenon can be explained in an example as simple as a fish tank, it effectively demonstrates the same physics that shapes how we see the entire world around us. 
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