Activity › Discussion › Science & Technology › What is Reflection? State the Laws of reflection. › Reply To: What is Reflection? State the Laws of reflection.
Reflection is the phenomenon of light or any other wave encountering a boundary between two media and bouncing back into the medium from which it originated. It occurs when a wavefront encounters a surface or boundary that does not absorb the wave’s energy and is not able to transmit it. Instead, the wave is reflected back into the original medium.
The laws of reflection describe the behavior of light when it reflects off a surface. These laws are as follows:
The incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the surface at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane.
The angle of incidence (θi) is equal to the angle of reflection (θr), where both angles are measured between the incident ray or reflected ray and the normal to the surface.
These laws are applicable to any type of wave, not just light waves. When light reflects off a smooth and polished surface, such as a mirror, the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection, and the reflected image appears to be behind the mirror at the same distance as the object in front of it.
It’s worth noting that these laws apply to idealized situations, assuming the surface is perfectly smooth and the medium is homogeneous. In reality, surfaces may have imperfections and different materials can have varying degrees of reflectivity.