![]() If imaginary lines are traced back, they appear to come from a focal point behind the mirror.Ĭonvex mirrors are useful for shop security and rear-view mirrors on vehicles because they give a wider field of vision. Parallel rays of light strike the mirror and are reflected outwards. The inside curve of a spoon is an example of a concave mirror It is possible to make mirrors that behave like humps or troughs, and because of the different way they reflect light, they can be very useful. This is because the reflecting surface is no longer flat and may have humps and troughs caused by the wind. However, if there are ripples or waves in the water, the reflection becomes distorted. When the water in a lake or sea is very still, the reflection of the landscape is perfect, because the reflecting surface is very flat. With a flat mirror, it is easy to show that the angle of reflection is the same as the angle of incidence. If you measure the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection against the normal, the angle of incidence is exactly the same as the angle of reflection. You can make eye contact with someone else through your mirror reflection because you know, subconsciously, that the law of reflection comes into play whenever you look at a mirror.If you want to measure these angles, imagine a perfectly straight line at a right angle to the reflective surface (this imaginary line is called ‘normal’). ![]() It’s very similar to the woman’s image pictured above, and is a very good example of the law of reflection at work in real life. Since your eyes are pointed towards the mirror, how can you make eye contact with someone else? Well, quite simply, because it’s not you, but your mirror reflection that makes eye contact with the person to whom you are talking. ![]() You have probably been in the situation countless times when you’re looking at the mirror, but also talking to someone at the same time… while maintaining eye contact! How does that happen? The life and success of a tennis player becomes much easier if they are skilled in those particular predictions.ĭo you notice how the woman’s reflection is looking at the camera, but the lady herself isn’t? (Image Credit: freestockphotos) The reason the tennis example was appropriate is that it shows how important it is, in a game like tennis, to be able to predict how a projectile (i.e., the tennis ball) is going to behave. However, we’re not here to talk about tennis. If you’re not good at tennis, then you might not be very good in this particular department. If you are a tennis player, particularly a good one, you must be quite good at estimating the path that the ball will follow just by looking at the way it was hit by your opponent. It also states that the angle the incident ray makes with the normal is equal to the angle that the reflected ray makes with the normal. The law of reflection (in physics) states that when a light ray is incident on a plane surface, the incident ray, the reflected ray and the “normal” to the surface of the mirror all lie in the same plane. The angle of incidence is the angle at which the ray of light hits the surface, and the angle of reflection is the angle at which the ray of light reflects off the surface. ![]() ![]() The law of reflection is the principle that when a ray of light hits a surface, the ray of light will reflect off the surface at the same angle as it hit the surface. Angle of incidence and angle of reflection. ![]()
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