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Understanding Light Reflection

Light reflects off surfaces in predictable ways that can be described by laws of reflection. The laws state that the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence, the reflected ray and incident ray are on opposite sides of the normal line, and the rays lie in the same plane. Ray diagrams can be used to represent the incident ray, reflected ray, normal line, and angles of reflection and incidence. Plane mirrors form images that appear identical to the object because light rays reflect backwards in a way the brain interprets as being behind the mirror.

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151 views1 page

Understanding Light Reflection

Light reflects off surfaces in predictable ways that can be described by laws of reflection. The laws state that the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence, the reflected ray and incident ray are on opposite sides of the normal line, and the rays lie in the same plane. Ray diagrams can be used to represent the incident ray, reflected ray, normal line, and angles of reflection and incidence. Plane mirrors form images that appear identical to the object because light rays reflect backwards in a way the brain interprets as being behind the mirror.

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3.

4 Reflected Light Name:

How does light behave when it is reflected?


• Light is reflected in predictable patterns.
– Light reflected by different types of mirrors behave in unique ways
– Example: funhouse mirrors can form misshapen images

Light is reflected in predictable patterns


• Light rays follow a predictable path, no matter what surface they reflect from.
• Laws of reflection: three laws that describe the predictable path light follows when it strikes a
reflective surface

Laws of Reflection: Ray Diagram Components


Ray diagrams can help you understand the laws of reflection.
• Incident ray: the light ray travelling toward the reflecting surface
• Reflected ray: the light ray that has bounced off a reflecting surface
• Normal: the line perpendicular to a surface, such as a mirror
• Angle of incidence (i): the angle between the incident ray and the normal
• Angle of reflection (r): the angle between the reflected ray and the normal

Laws of Reflection
• The angle of reflection (r) is equal to the angle of incidence (i).
• The reflected ray and the incident ray are on opposite sides of the normal.
• The incident ray, the normal, and the reflected ray lie on the same plane (flat surface).

Light reflected by a plane mirror


• Light reflected by a plane mirror produces an image that is nearly identical to the object.
• Plane mirror: an extremely smooth, flat reflective surface
– Some sources are artificial (cell phones, light bulbs)
– Some sources are living organisms (humans)

How an image forms in a plane mirror


• When light shines on an object (the tomato), it reflects on all points of the object in all directions.
• When these reflected rays reach the plane mirror, they follow the laws of reflection and reflect
backwards.
• Some rays reach your eyes if you are looking at the mirror.
– They carry the same pattern of light to the eye that was reflected off the object.
• Your brain assumes light travels in a straight line and thinks the image is behind the mirror.

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