Law of Reflection

J. Gelito1; E. Tagala; E. Fajardo; I. Golingan; J. Fernandez; R. Eclarin

I. Introduction
Reflection, a concept so simple and yet so intriguing of having the ability to look at your
own image towards transparent objects, like mirrors, water, and glass. But how do they work? To
better understand this, we look at the three laws of reflection. The three rules of reflection apply
to any mirror, whether flat, curved, convex, or concave.

The first law states that the angle formed by the incident ray equals the angle formed by
reflected rays. As shown in the first and second figure, as the angle of incidence (θ𝑖) grows, so
does the angle of reflection (θ𝑟), and the two angles are always equal.

Figure 1. 1st Law of Reflection Figure 2. Angle of Incidence and Angle of

Reflection are equal

This means that,

θ𝑖 = θ𝑟 (1)

where the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.

For the 2nd law, all three rays, incident, normal, and reflected, are in the same plane. The
angle of the plane is changed by changing the direction of the incident beam. As you can see on
the figures 3 and 4 below, the incident ray, normal line, and reflected ray are all in the same plane
this time.

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 Figure 3. Second Law of Reflection Figure 4. The Normal line, Incident

Ray, and Reflected Ray All Lie on

the Same Plane

And finally, for the 3rd law, It states that the incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal
line that surface the mirror must all lie on the same plane, and that both the incident and reflected
rays should be on opposite sides of the normal.The diagram in figure 5 is incorrect. The incident
and reflected rays must be on opposite sides of the normal, as shown in figure 6.

Figure 5. Incorrect Diagram for Figure 6. Correct Diagram for

II. Objective
The following objectives are attempted to complete in order to better understand the three
laws of reflection in the experiment:
● To understand the concept of Law of Reflection.
● To prove that the angle of incidence and angle of reflection are both equal.
● To prove that the normal line and the two angles are existing at the same plane.
● To determine the relationship between the incident ray and reflected ray on both sides of the
normal line.
● To explain how the law of reflection can be applied in real life.

III. Explanations/Calculations
In order to better understand the Law of Reflection, we have conducted a series of
experiments to showcase how the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection; how the
incidence ray and reflection ray are supposed to be on opposite sides of the normal line; and how
the two angles, along with the normal line, lie on the same plane. For this experiment, we would
require the following items: A blank white paper; a plane mirror; a laser or ray of light; a lucite
rod; a binder clip; and a protractor. Place the plane mirror in line with the 0-180 line of the
protractor perpendicular to the blank white paper, using a binder clip to keep the plane mirror
upright. After this, you may now direct a ray of light on the mirror, making the light reflect at a
certain angle. Hold the lucite rod horizontally as shown in the image below, serving as a
cylindrical lens to spread the light vertically. Use the protractor to approximately measure the
angle of incidence and angle of reflection, and later compare the two to see if they’re equal.

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Figure 7. Mirror, protractor, binder clip, Figure 8. Laser light aimed at the mirror
laser, and lucite rod. is reflected. By spreading the beam, its
horizontal path is seen on the protractor.

When a ray of light reflects off a surface, the angle of incidence equals the angle of
reflection, according to the law of reflection. You should be able to get a line of light to reflect
back onto the protractor and identify the angles of incidence and reflection with the rod and laser
close to the paper. At the point of contact between the incident ray and the surface normal, the
reflected ray always meets the surface normal.

According to the outer scale, the incident light makes a 50° angle with the reference
origin. The angle of incidence, on the other hand, is measured from the normal, in this example at
90 degrees. As a result, the incidence angle is 90° - 50° = 40°. The angle of reflection is also
measured in the same way. Using the outside scale once more, the emerging beam is at 130
degrees, which corresponds to a 40-degree angle of reflection (130° - 90° = 40°). The law of
reflection can explain the pictures produced by a plane or curved mirror. For light reflected from
any flat surface, the principles of reflection apply. In this situation, we subtract 90 from the
observed angle to get a positive angle of reflection, which is what the definition calls for.

In real life, reflections can be seen all around us. A most famous example of this is
looking through a plane mirror. Such as the case in the laser light experiment, a light bulb,
sunlight, or any other luminous object displays a light that can be seen in many directions. A
mirror, being a shiny, transparent, and smooth object, bounces light well in order to see our
reflections. As shown in the figure below, imagine we can see rays of light coming from the top
of our head in many directions and first becomes incident on the woman’s body. This then
bounces off the plane mirror, which then reaches our eyes, allowing us to see our image. If the
mirror is placed on a wall inside a room, it can certainly be seen as though the room is bigger than
it actually is. Looking through the mirror, it's as if the images are being projected from behind the
mirror, when in reality, these are only mirror images that are being projected through the
reflection of light, and there isn’t anything real from behind the mirror. We can also see in the
figure below the angle of incidence being equal to the angle of reflection as the plane mirror
reflects the woman’s virtual image as she looks into the mirror.

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 Figure 9. Woman looking in the mirror through the reflection of light

References
[1]The three laws of reflection. (n.d.). Mammoth Memory. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from
https://mammothmemory.net/physics/mirrors/flat-mirrors/the-three-laws-of-reflection.html
[2](n.d.). Introduction. Retrieved April 5, 2022, from
http://www.slcss.edu.hk/sites/html/subjects/phy/S3%20Physics_2015016_Light_STUDENT_2015Sept.pd
f
[3]The Law of Reflection | Physics. (n.d.). Lumen Learning – Simple Book Production. Retrieved April 8,
2022, from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/25-2-the-law-of-reflection/