Applied Physics question

[Madge Wildfire]

The lamp in my fish tank (or aquarium if you want to be posh) is one of those fluorescent tube things, and is nearing the end of its days.

If I lift the tank lid and look at it, it is flickering at such a rate I cant look at it for more than a couple of seconds without feeling rather unwell.

However, if I look at the light projected into the tank through the water, there appears no be no flicker whatsoever.

Is this the result of some clever physics, or have I been on the sauce too much?

 

[John Webb]

It it possible that when you lift the lid you disturb a loose connection which allows the lamp to flicker?
Otherwise I don't know!

 

[Crossover]

If looking at it through the water could it be that this slows down the transmission of light and therefore seems to stop the flickering.

Also, you may not be looking at it as close up through the tank too.

Couldn't say for certain though

 

[Eagle]

If looking at it through the water could it be that this slows down the transmission of light and therefore seems to stop the flickering.

Slows it down from 300,000 km/s to 225,000 km/s :P

 

[Madge Wildfire]

You could be onto something there Sellis, maybe the denser water molecules are refracting the light in all different directions and the interference between that gives the illusion of being steady because it is just increasing the frequency of the flickers to a point that the eye cannot resolve. hock:

 

[SS4]

You could be onto something there Sellis, maybe the denser water molecules are refracting the light in all different directions and the interference between that gives the illusion of being steady because it is just increasing the frequency of the flickers to a point that the eye cannot resolve. hock:

Refraction doesn't affect frequency. You still have the same number of photons being emitted, just their speed and wavelength change

I'm not sure to be honest, I'd imagine that the water is somehow refracting it away and converting the photons to transfer to the water molecules (I'm in a particle mood today )
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Absorped is the word I was looking for! wiki