Water Refraction Experiment

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If you’re looking for a simple, hands-on science activity that amazes kids and teaches real physics, the Water Refraction Experiment is perfect. With only a few household supplies, children can watch a picture magically change when dipped into water—then learn the science behind why it happens.

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The Science: Refraction Made Simple

The “magic” behind this experiment is something called refraction.

What is refraction?

Refraction is what happens when light bends as it moves from one material into another. Light changes speed depending on what it travels through:

• Air
• Plastic (the bag)
• Water

Each of these materials has a different index of refraction—a fancy term for how much it slows down and bends light.

So what happens in this experiment?

When the picture is just in air, the light reflects normally from the drawing into your eyes.

But once the bag is lowered into the water, the light now travels through water → plastic → air → your eye.
Every time light passes between these materials, it bends a little.

This bending changes where your eyes think the picture is, making the image look:

• shifted
• stretched
• bigger or smaller
• curved
• upside down
• or just plain weird!

Why does it look so different from above?

Looking from above means you’re viewing the picture through a thick layer of water, which bends the light more dramatically—kind of like looking through a glass lens. The water acts like a natural magnifying and bending tool.

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When explaining to kids you can say “When the bag goes into the water, the picture suddenly looks funny or different! Water bends light in a new way, so your eyes see the picture in a different spot.”