Reflection of light
What is reflection of light?
Reflection of light is, light rays bounce of the mirror and travel to your eyes, this bouncing of light off a mirror is called reflection.
When does it happen?
Reflection of light (and other forms of electromagnetic radiation) occurs when the waves encounter a surface or other boundary that does not absorb the energy of the radiation and bounces the waves away from the surface.
Types of reflection.
Diffuse reflection
When light strikes a rough or granular surface, it bounces off in all directions due to the microscopic irregularities of the interface. Thus, an 'image' is not formed. This is called diffuse reflection. The exact form of the reflection depends on the structure of the surface.
Retro reflector
A simple retro reflector can be made by placing three ordinary mirrors mutually perpendicular to one another (a corner reflector). The image produced is the inverse of one produced by a single mirror. A surface can be made partially retro reflective by depositing a layer of tiny refractive spheres on it or by creating small pyramid like structures. In both cases internal reflection causes the light to be reflected back to where it originated. In this application perfect retro reflection is not desired, since the light would then be directed back into the headlights of an oncoming car rather than to the driver's eyes
Complex conjugate reflection
Light bounces exactly back in the direction from which it came due to a nonlinear optical process. In this type of reflection, not only the direction of the light is reversed, but the actual wave fronts are reversed as well.
Uses of reflection of light, examples?
Some uses of reflection is for people to check their appearance a mirror at home, allow drivers to see the traffic behind the car a rear view mirror, to allow owners of shops to see angles of their shops which they can’t see a security mirror, magnifies image a dentist mirror.
Adapted from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflection_(physics)
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/lightandcolor/reflectionintro.html
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