The image in the plane mirror is virtual.It means your right becomes left in the image. The image is equal in size to the object.The image formed by a plane mirror is upright (straight upward).We see images in a plane mirror when light reflected by the mirror enters our eyes. A plane mirror has a smooth and flat surface. We can see things just before sunrise and just after sunset due to the diffused reflection of light.Ī shiny surface is called a mirror.The light scatters in different directions when it shines on dust particles. This is because of the irregular or diffused reflection of light. Sunlight does not reach directly into our rooms, but we can see things in our rooms.We can turn the sunlight towards dark places by the regular reflection of light with the help of a shiny surface.Due to the regular reflection of light, we look at our image in the plane mirror.Regular and irregular reflections of light have many applications in our everyday life. Reflected Ray - The beam of light that is supposed to reflect back after hitting the object or any surface is known as.

The incident ray, normal ray, reflected ray at the point of an incident all lie on the same plane.Īpplications of regular and irregular reflection What are the Laws of Reflection of Light Incident Ray - The beam of light that straightaway falls on the object is known as an incident ray.The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.Such reflection is called irregular reflection.

The rough surfaces of these objects reflect the rays of light in many directions. Most of the objects in the everyday world are not smooth on the microscopic level. The reflection by these smooth surfaces is called regular reflection. For example, a smooth surface of silver reflects the ray of light in one direction only. The nature of reflection depends on the smoothness of the surface. Now we know that light has dual nature wave as well as particle nature. In 1900, Planck suggested that light consists of small packets of energy called photons were confirmed by experiments. In 1802, Thomas young proved the wave nature of light experimentally. Maxwell formulated the wave theory of light. According to him, light consists of tiny, fast-moving particles. Newton put forward the idea of the corpuscular nature of light. In the early 1700 s, were two ideas about the nature of light particle nature and wave nature. Because almost no light is reflected by the printed words, we “see” them as black areas. The law of reflection states that, on reflection from a smooth surface, the angle of the reflected ray is equal to the angle of the incident ray. Reflection of light is defined as: “When light traveling in a certain medium falls on the surface of another medium, a part of it turns back in the same medium.”We see a page of a book because light reflects from each part of the page in all directions so that some of the light rays from each part of the page enter our eyes. Light rays change direction when they reflect off a surface, move from one transparent medium into another, or travel through a medium whose composition is continuously changing.

The number of things you see in a day is due to the reflection of light.

We see nonluminous objects due to the reflection of light.

We see the colors of different objects due to reflection.

When the moon reflects from a lake, as shown in this figure, a combination of these effects takes place.Reflection of light Examples in daily life A mirror, on the other hand, has a smooth surface (compared with the wavelength of light) and reflects light at specific angles, as illustrated in this figure. Many objects, such as people, clothing, leaves, and walls, have rough surfaces and can be seen from all sides. Since the light strikes different parts of the surface at different angles, it is reflected in many different directions, or diffused.ĭiffused light is what allows us to see a sheet of paper from any angle, as illustrated in this figure. We expect to see reflections from smooth surfaces, but this figure illustrates how a rough surface reflects light. The law of reflection is illustrated in this figure, which also shows how the angles are measured relative to the perpendicular to the surface at the point where the light ray strikes. Large telescopes use reflection to form an image of stars and other astronomical objects.

When you look at this page, too, you are seeing light reflected from it. Whenever we look into a mirror, or squint at sunlight glinting from a lake, we are seeing a reflection.

Law of reflection