BY: ANJALI, BRADLEY, CLARISSA, MICHELLE,

MYISHA, RYAN
DEFINITIONS :
• REFLECTION: The change in direction of a light ray or sound
wave after it hits a surface and bounces off.

• PLANE MIRROR: A mirror with a flat reflective surface.

• IMAGE: The point from which rays of light entering the eye
appear to have originated. (The image we see in a mirror is
laterally inverted.)

• LATERALLY INVERTED: The type of reversal that occurs with

an image formed by a plane mirror

• RAY DIAGRAM: Shows how light travels, including what

happens when it reaches the surface. (We draw each ray as a
straight line, with an arrowhead pointing in the direction that the
light travels.
TYPES OF
REFLECTION:
• SPECULAR REFLECTION
Specular reflection is a beam of
light reflected “perfectly” (in
parallel to each other) from a
shiny, polished surface.
Ex: mirrors, stainless steel, glass,
etc.
• DIFFUSE REFLECTION
Diffuse reflection is a beam of
light reflected “irregularly” (in
different directions) from an
irregular surface.
Ex: Table top, sheet of paper, etc.
LAW OF REFLECTION

 The hatched vertical line on the right represents the mirror

 The dashed line is called the normal, drawn at 90° to the surface of the mirror
 The angle of incidence, i, is the angle between the normal and incident ray
 The angle of reflection, r, is the angle between the normal and reflected ray
 The law of reflection states that the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection, i =
r. It works for any angle. For example:
• The angle of reflection is 30° if the angle of incidence is 30°
• The angle of reflection is 90° if the angle of incidence is 90°
FORMULAS
• Formula for reflection across the x-axis :

If point P has coordinates (x, y), then point R = RX(P), its reflected
image across the X-axis, will be defined by R = (x, -y)

• Formula for Reflection across any Horizontal line { y = k }

• If point P has coordinates (x, y), then point R = RH(P), its reflected
image across the horizontal line H = { y = k }, will be defined by
R = (x, 2k-y)
PERISCOPE
• Periscope is very useful. It enables you to look over the top of a
wall, or over other people if you are at the back of a crowd.
• Periscope uses plane mirror because light strikes the mirror to
reach viewer’s eye.
KALEIDOSCOPE
• Kaleidoscopes uses plane mirror because only reflecting
surface is needed
• Two mirrors at an angle will produce lots and lots of
images. You can use this to make a kaleidoscope.