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Reflection

reflection project

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27 views4 pages

Reflection

reflection project

Uploaded by

manjukhasa17
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Reflection, also known as reflection of light, is the phenomenon of light rays reflecting back

when they hit a bright, shiny, smooth surface. We can see ourselves in the plane mirror
because of how light reflects off surfaces. The simplest example of this is when you walk into
a dark room and can't see anything, but as soon as you turn on the lights, everything becomes
visible.
In this Physics article, we will go through a detailed study about the laws of reflection, types
of reflection, total internal reflection and its applications.
What is Reflection of Light?
When two different media come together at an interface, a wavefront might change direction
so that it returns to the first medium, which is known as reflection. Reflection of light occurs
when a light beam strikes any polished, smooth, or bright object and bounces back.
Reflection can also occur for water waves and sound waves.
The light wave that is coming in is known as the incident wave, and the wave that is being
reflected off of the surface is known as the reflected wave. Light propagates in a straight line
before, after, and during reflection.
Reflection of Light Diagram

The figure below describes the reflection of light.


Here,
i => is the angle of incidence and
r => is the angle of reflection.
The perpendicular drawn on the reflecting surface is called the normal. The angles of
incidence and reflection are measured in relation to the perpendicular line (normal) and the
reflective surface.
The following is a list of important terminologies used in Reflection of Light:
Reflected Ray: A ray of light is said to be reflected when it emerges from the reflecting
surface.
Normal: The reflecting surface's "normal" is a perpendicular drawn to the reflecting surface
at the point of incidence.
Incident Ray: An incident ray is a light ray that originates from a light source or an object
and strikes the reflecting surface.
Principal axis: The primary axis is the line separating the two mediums or the reflecting
surface.
Laws of Reflection of Light
The laws of reflection regulate how incident light rays reflect off of reflecting surfaces like
mirrors, gleaming metal, and crystal-clear water. The laws of reflection of light explain how
curved and plane mirrors form images.
When a ray reflects from a smooth surface, its angle of reflection is equal to the angle of
incidence with respect to the normal. It is given by the mathematical expression i=r
The incident ray, reflected ray and the normal are in the same plane.
Types of Reflection of Light
There are essentially three types of reflection that apply to light. They are regular reflection,
irregular and multiple reflections of light. The laws of reflection are observed in all three
types of reflections.
Regular Reflection
The mirror-like reflection of light rays is known as a specular or regular reflection of light.
The light will reflect at the same angle from a smooth, shining surface, such as glass, water,
or polished metal. This sort of reflection of light is produced by plane mirrors with a smooth
surface. In this case, the image is distinct and clearly visible. We can virtually or actually see
the reflections while using curved mirrors with smooth surface. That is to say, either real or
virtual images can be created using curved mirrors.
Diffused Reflection
A type of light reflection that is not mirror-like is called diffused or irregular reflection of
light. Rays of light that are reflected off of a rough surface scatter in all directions. Because
most natural surfaces are rough on the scale of the wavelength of light, parallel incident light
rays are irregularly or diffusely reflected in many distinct directions. Diffuse reflection makes
it possible to see most illuminated surfaces from any angle.
Multiple Reflection
Mirrors and other such reflecting surfaces are excellent at maintaining the intensity of light in
a reflection. Because of this, multiple reflections can be produced from a single light source
by using this type of reflecting surface. These multiple reflections are achievable up until the
point at which the light is so weak that we cannot see it. As a result, the number of possible
multiple reflections is practically unlimited.
Every reflection has an image that we can see. The angle formed by the two mirrors affects
the amount of images we can see. When we continue to reduce the angle between the mirrors,
there are more images. The number of images is unlimited when the angle is zero, or when
the mirrors are parallel.
The following formula can be used to determine how many images of an object appear when
it is put between two mirrors at an angle:
Number of images = (360∘/Angle between mirrors )−1

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