Question

What do you mean by ‘Reflection of light’? State the laws of reflection.

Answer 1

Hint:When the light incident is on a smooth surface then all the incident part is sent back. For example, when we look in the mirror, we see our image which is the same in shape and size. First law of reflection is the same as the first law of refraction.

Complete step-by-step solution:
Reflection of light- The process of sending back the light rays which fall on a polished surface is called the reflection of light.
When a light ray is incident on a polished surface then the whole part of the light rays is sent back from the polished surface. This process of sending back these light rays is known as reflection of light.
It gives the image of the same size and shape.
The light ray which incident on the mirror is known as incident ray and the ray which sent back from the mirror is known as reflected ray.
The perpendicular which is drawn on the surface of the mirror is known as the normal.
Laws of reflection-There are two laws of reflection. They are following.
1. The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal to the surface of the mirror always lie in the same plane. All of three meets at the same point.
2. The angle of incidence is always equal to the angle of reflection.
The reflection of light occurs on surfaces like mirrors, smooth metal surfaces and clear water.

Note:- We have to remember that we can see the image in the mirror due to reflection of light. We can generally get confused between refraction of light and reflection of light. In the reflection of light, the total incident light rays are sent back but in refraction some of the part is sent back and the rest part passes through the surface. Reflection of light and refraction of light have the first law same.