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Mystery #3Tier 1-2light

Why does a straw look bent in a glass of water?

Put a straight straw in a glass of water and it suddenly looks snapped or bent right at the surface, even though you can feel it is perfectly straight. What is playing this trick on your eyes?

A pencil standing in a glass of water appears bent and shifted at the surface
Photo: Meganbeckett27 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Your guess

What's your hunch about why the straw looks bent where it meets the water?

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