Road Mirage Simulator (2D)

This 2D side-view simulator shows exactly how a hot road produces the classic "wet patch" inferior mirage: a thin layer of superheated air sits on the asphalt with a temperature — and refractive-index — gradient that shrinks toward the cooler air overhead, so a fan of shallow light rays coming from the sky and a distant car curve smoothly back up toward the eye instead of reaching the ground. Drag the asphalt-temperature slider to steepen or flatten that gradient and watch the shimmering puddle slide closer or fade away, drag the ambient-air slider to see the mirage weaken as the road-to-air contrast drops, and read off the apparent puddle distance against the car's true, fixed distance to see how the two never actually agree.