Reflection

Question 1

What are the laws of reflection?(2)

Answer 1

• The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal at the point of incidence all lie on the same plane.
• The angle of incidence,i, is equal to the angle of reflection. r(i=r)

Question 2

What is the angle of incidence?

Answer 2

i, is the angle between the incident ray and the normal.

Question 3

What is the angle of reflection ?

Answer 3

r, is the angle between the reflected ray and the normal.

Question 4

What is the normal?

Answer 4

The line that is perpendicular to the reflecting surface.

Question 5

The laws of reflection are true for….(4)

Answer 5

Reflecting surfaces
Plane mirrors
Curved mirrors
Rough surfaces

Question 6

What is diffuse reflection?

Answer 6

The reflection of light from a surface such that an incident ray is reflected at many angles, rather than at just one angle as in the case of specular reflection.

Question 7

What is regular reflection?

Answer 7

It is when parallel rays of light fall on a smooth surface and reflect parallely.

Question 8

What are the positions and characteristics of an image formed by a plane mirror?(5)

Answer 8

• It is virtual which means it cannot be formed on a screen.
• It is upright.
• It has the same size as the object.
• It is as far behind the mirror as the object is in front of the mirror.
• It is laterally inverted.