1 It’s simple! Put the pen in the glass of water. 2 Make sure the pen is resting on the side of the glass at a diagonal. 3 Stand back and look at the pen through the glass. The pen looks as if it is bent or cut in half! Light rays travel through different transparent materials, like glass and water, at different speeds. This causes the light rays to bend and change direction when they pass from one to another. This is called refraction. In the experiment, light rays travel through the glass and then the water, at different speeds. This makes the light rays refract and the reflected image of the pen becomes distorted.

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