1. Why we see images in mirrors
Or… The angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence

3. Reflections
What do you see when you look in a mirror or other highly reflective surface?

6. Reflections
Why are you able to see yourself in a mirror but not a sheet of white paper?
You need a VERY smooth flat surface to reflect back an almost exact image!

7. Reflection Normal Reflection from a plane (flat) mirror: Incident ray
Reflected ray
Angle of incidence
Angle of reflection r i
Mirror
(medium)

8. Reflections
Rough surfaces create many incident rays that scatter light because there are many angles of reflection even though the angles of incidence are the same

9. Smooth surfaces send reflected rays in the same direction

10. Paper surface magnified 830x

11. Smooth surfaces send reflected rays in the same direction
Rough surfaces send reflected rays in many directions

12. Law of Reflection
The angle of incidence (i) is always equal to the angle of reflection (r)
The reflected ray and the incident ray are on opposite sides of the normal
The incident ray, the normal and the reflected ray lie on the same plane (flat surface)

15. Using mirrors
Two examples:
2) A car headlight
1) A periscope