“LAW OF REFLECTION”
Members: Carpio Beltran Debuque Gascon Tadeo Villareal Eler
I. Background:
Light is known to behave in a very predictable manner. If a ray of light could be observed
approaching and reflecting off a flat mirror, then the behavior of the light as it reflects would
follow a predictable law known as the law of reflection. The diagram below illustrates the
law of reflection.
In the diagram, the ray of light approaching the mirror
is known as the incident ray (labeled I in the diagram). The ray of light that leaves the
mirror is known as the reflected ray (labeled R in the diagram). At the point of incidence
where the ray strikes the mirror, a line can be drawn perpendicular to the surface of the
mirror. This line is known as a normal line (labeled N in the diagram). The normal line
divides the angle between the incident ray and the reflected ray into two equal angles. The
angle between the incident ray and the normal is known as the angle of incidence. The
angle between the reflected ray and the normal is known as the angle of reflection. (These
two angles are labeled with the Greek letter "theta" accompanied by a subscript; read as
"theta-i" for angle of incidence and "theta-r" for angle of reflection.) The law of reflection
states that when a ray of light reflects off a surface, the angle of incidence is equal to the
angle of reflection.
There are two laws of reflection;
First law: When a light ray strikes a plane mirror, the light ray reflects off the mirror.
Reflection involves a change in direction of the light ray. The angle of incidence is the angle
between this normal line and the incident ray; the angle of reflection is the angle between
this normal line and the reflected ray. According to the law of reflection, the angle of
incidence equals the angle of reflection.
Second Law: Incident ray, Reflected ray and the normal at the point of incidence lie in the
same plane.
The law of reflection governs the reflection of light rays off smooth conducting surfaces such
as polished metal or metal-coated glass mirrors.
II. Objective:
To verify the Laws of Reflection that when a light ray strikes a plane mirror, the light
ray reflects off the mirror and incident ray, reflected ray and the normal at the point
of incidence lie in the same plane.
III. Materials
A drawing board, a white sheet of paper, a few common pins, plane mirror,
protractor
IV. Procedure
Pin the white sheet of paper firmly on the drawing board. Place the plane mirror on it
and trace its outline on the paper. Then remove the mirror and draw the 'normal.
'The normal is the 90 degrees vertical line drawn to the outline of the mirror. Now
place the mirror again on the outline. The normal will be reflected clearly on the
mirror. Next place two pins in a straight line on one side of the normal on the white
sheet of paper. Next place two pins on the other side of the normal in such a way
that these two pins is in a straight line with the reflection of the two pins on the
other side of the normal. Now remove the mirror and the pins and join the pin marks
to the normal.
V. Generalization and Conclusion
It will be seen that the angles which the lines make on both sides of the normal will
be equal (refer to the attached image). So, if one line represents the incident ray -
the ray which is travelling from the source of light - and the other line represents the
reflected ray - the ray of light which has been reflected - it is proved that the angle
which the incident ray makes to the normal is always equal to the angle which the
reflected ray makes to the normal. Since the lines representing the normal and the
incident and reflected rays are all represented on the sheet of plain paper, the
incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal are coplanar.
IV. References:
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