What is a Ray of Light?
A ray of light is a straight-line path along which the light travels.
Luminous objects emit light in all directions. Below is an image of a fluorescent bulb emitting light. The straight lines with arrows are the rays of light pointing in the direction where the light travels.
What are the Laws of Reflection?
Consider a ray of light from a bulb strikes a plane surface and is reflected. This can be shown diagrammatically as below:
- The ray of light striking the surface at a particular point is called an Incident
- The point at which the incident ray meets the wall is the Point of
- A perpendicular drawn at the point of incidence is called
- From the point of incidence, the ray of light is reflected. This reflected ray travels in a specific
Any light ray when it strikes a surface obeys two laws of reflection.
- First law of reflection: The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection The angle of incidence is the angle made by the incident ray with the normal. It is denoted by ‘i’. The angle of reflection is the angle made by the reflected ray with the normal. It is denoted by ‘r’.
As per the first law, ‘i’ is equal to ‘r’. This means, if the incident ray strikes at a point, the reflected ray will only travel in the direction that will keep the measure of ‘r’ the same as ‘i’. If the incident ray moves, the reflected ray also moves.
- Second law of reflection: The incident ray, normal and reflected ray lie in the same plane.
Summary
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Did you know?
The Greek mathematician Euclid described the law of reflection in about 300 BCE.
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