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Ans. Reflection of light is when light hits a surface and bounces back instead of passing through it.
Q.2. State the law of reflection.
Ans. According to the two main laws of reflection of light, the angle of incidence is always equal to the angle of reflection, and both rays lie in the same plane.
Q.3. Why is learning reflection of light important?
Ans. Reflection of light helps students understand how mirrors work and is useful in many devices like periscopes, cameras, and car mirrors.
Q.4. What are the types of reflection?
Ans. There are two types of reflection: Regular Reflection (from smooth surfaces like mirrors) and Diffuse Reflection (from rough surfaces like walls).
Reflection of Light | Law, Formula & Examples
Learn all about the reflection of light and its types here. Explore the important laws of reflection of light, its formulas, and real-life uses, along with solved examples.
Jasdeep Singh27 May, 2025
Reflection of Light: Light plays an important role in helping us see the things around us and when light falls on a surface and bounces back, this process is called reflection of light. This is the reason we can see ourselves in a mirror or notice the glow of shiny objects.
To learn how this happens, it is important to understand what is reflection of light and the laws related to it. This helps students strengthen their basic understanding of how light behaves.
Reflection of light is the process where light rays fall on a surface and bounce back instead of passing through it.
The light coming towards the surface is called the incident ray, and the light that bounces back is called the reflected ray. This happens when light hits smooth and shiny surfaces like mirrors or still water.
Moreover, there are several important terms related to the reflection of light, as outlined below, that help us understand this process better.
Incident Ray: This is the light ray that comes from a source and falls on a surface.
Reflected Ray: This is the light ray that bounces back from the surface after hitting it.
Normal: This is an imaginary straight line drawn at a right angle (90 degrees) to the surface where the light hits.
Angle of Incidence (∠i): This is the angle between the incident ray and the normal.
Angle of Reflection (∠r): This is the angle between the reflected ray and the normal.
Normal: At the point where the light hits the surface, a line is drawn at a right angle to the surface. This line is called the normal.
Reflection of light can happen in two ways, depending on how smooth or rough the surface is. Let’s understand both types:
Regular Reflection: This type of reflection happens when light falls on a flat and smooth surface, like a clean mirror. All the light rays bounce back in the same direction. That’s why we can see a clear image in mirrors or still water.
Diffused Reflection: This happens when light falls on a rough surface, like a wall or paper. The surface is not even, so the light rays bounce back in many directions. Because of this, we cannot see any clear image.
Multiple Reflection of Light: When light reflects between two mirrors placed facing each other, it creates multiple images of the object. This is called multiple reflection of light. The number of images depends on the angle between the two mirrors:
If the angle is small, we see more images.
If the mirrors are parallel (angle is 0°), we can see many images, almost infinite.
The real life example of multiple reflection of light can be seen at barber shops, where two mirrors are used to show the back of the head. The reflection keeps repeating, forming many images one after another.
Laws of Reflection of Light
To understand how light reflects from a surface, there are some important rules known as the laws of reflection of light. They help explain the direction in which light will bounce back. There are 3 laws of reflection of light. Let’s learn about them one by one:
1 . The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
This means that the angle at which the light ray hits the surface (called the angle of incidence) is always the same as the angle at which it bounces back (called the angle of reflection).
2. The incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal—all lie in the same plane.
This means that all three lines (the ray coming in, the line bouncing out, and the normal) are on the same flat surface and do not bend out of place.
3. The incident ray and the reflected ray are on opposite sides of the normal.
This means that the incoming and outgoing rays are on different sides of the imaginary normal line drawn at the point where the light hits.
These three rules clearly state the laws of reflection that help students understand how light behaves when it reflects.
The laws of reflection also have a simple formula that helps students remember the rule easily. This formula shows the connection between the angle at which light hits a surface and the angle at which it bounces back.
The formula is: ∠i = ∠r
Where,
∠i is the angle of incidence (the angle between the incoming ray and the normal),
∠r is the angle of reflection (the angle between the reflected ray and the normal).
This means that the angle at which light comes in is always equal to the angle at which it goes out. This formula is an important part of understanding the laws of reflection of light and is very useful while solving questions.
Understanding Reflection of Light Through Real Activity
To help students understand the laws of reflection of light, a small activity can be done to show how light reflects and follows certain rules. Here’s how it can be done to see how these laws work in real life:
Take a plain white sheet and place it on a table. Fix a small mirror standing upright on it.
Draw a straight line to show the surface of the mirror and mark a point O on it.
From point O, draw a slanting line to show the incident ray. Name it AO.
Draw another line at O, making a 90° angle with the mirror. This line is called the normal.
Now place two pins on the line AO (the incoming ray).
Look from the other side of the normal and try to place two more pins so that they appear in a straight line with the images of the first two pins. These new pins will show the reflected ray.
Mark the positions of all pins and join the points with a scale to form the lines AO (incident ray) and BO (reflected ray).
When students measure the angles between the rays and the normal, they will find that:
∠i = ∠r; (Angle of Incidence = Angle of Reflection)
This simple experiment proves the laws of reflection and shows that light always follows the same rule when it bounces off a smooth surface.
Real-Life Uses and Examples of Reflection of Light
Reflection of light is used in many tools and activities we see around us every day. Some common uses are:
Mirrors in vehicles: Cars and bikes use plane and convex mirrors as rear view and side mirrors. These help drivers see objects behind and beside them clearly.
Shaving and makeup mirrors: Concave mirrors are used because they show a bigger image of the face, making it easier to see small details.
Dentist’s tools: Dentists use small concave mirrors to see inside the mouth clearly. These mirrors make the image of the teeth look bigger.
Torches and headlights: Torches and car headlights use curved mirrors to focus light into a straight beam so it can go farther.
Microscopes: A small mirror is used to reflect light onto the object being studied, so it becomes easier to see.
Measuring instruments: Devices like voltmeters and ammeters use mirrors to avoid reading errors caused by wrong eye angles.
To check the understanding of the laws of reflection, here are some solved examples for students:
Example 1: If the angle of incidence is 20°, find the angle of reflection.
Solution: By the law of reflection, angle of incidence = angle of reflection. So, angle of reflection = 20°.
Example 2: The angle between the mirror surface and the incident ray is 60°. Find the angle of incidence.
Solution: The angle between the mirror surface and the normal is always 90°. Angle of incidence + angle between mirror and incident ray = 90° So, angle of incidence = 90° - 60° = 30°.
Example 3: If the angle of reflection is 35°, what is the angle between the reflected ray and the normal?
Solution: The angle between the reflected ray and the normal is the angle of reflection. So, the angle is 35°.
Example 4: An incident ray makes an angle of 45° with the normal. What will be the angle between the incident ray and the reflected ray?
Solution: Angle of incidence = 45°, angle of reflection = 45°. Angle between incident ray and reflected ray = 45° + 45° = 90°.
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