Topic: Reflection of light – i. What is reflection of light?
ii. When does it happen?
iii. Types of reflection
iv. Uses of reflection of light, examples?
Reflection is the bouncing of light off a mirror or mirror-like surface. Reflection is also the change in direction of a wave front at an interface between two different media so that the wave front returns into the medium from which it originated from.
A flat mirror called a plane mirror is a good reflector of light. A normal is formed when a ray of light strikes the mirror at a right angle.
-Reflection may even occur on water and clouds
Mainly, there are two types of reflection, specular and diffused.Light being reflected of a smooth surface is Specular. When light strikes this smooth surface, all the reflected rays are in line with each other. An image is formed.
Diffused reflection is reflection from a rough surface. The small bumps and irregularities on a rough surface will cause each of the light rays to reflect n different directions, thus no image is formed.
There are some uses of plane mirrors, for example, plane mirrors helps people to check their appearance, and see things at a certain angle which the eye cannot.
The use of curved mirrors is used to reflect light into microscope to amplify the image’s size and dentist can use it to magnify the image of a patient’s teeth.
Also, if you look place a screen behind the mirror, the image is not formed on the screen. An image that cannot be formed on a screen is known as a virtual image.
Acknowledgement: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflection_(physics)#Laws_of_regular_reflection
Sec 2 Science Text Book
Pictures - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Crepuscular_Rays_in_ggp_14.jpg
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