TOPIC: Reflection of Light

REFLECTION OF LIGHT

Light, or Visible Light, commonly refers to electromagnetic radiation that can

be detected by the human eye. Light has a dual nature; it is both a particle and a

wave. Particle is made up of packets of energy called photons that explain how light

travels in a straight line and waves as it bends or diffracts.

▪ Light travels very fast around 300,000 km/s. At this speed, it can go around

the world eight times in one second. Light travels much faster than sound.

Example: Thunder and Lightning.

Why do we see lightning before thunder?

They always start at the same time, but we will see lightning first

before we hear the thunder because light travels faster than sound. The

speed of light is 300 million m/s while the speed of sound is 340m/s. The light

from the lightning travels much faster to our eyes. As a result, we first see the

lightning followed by the sound of thunder.

Luminous and Nonluminous objects

▪ The objects which emit their light are called luminous objects. Ex: Sun, bulb,

firefly etc.

▪ The objects which do not emit their light are called non-luminous objects.

Simply they reflect the light. Ex: Moon, mirror, etc.,

Reflection is simply the bouncing back of light waves from a source. Whenever a

ray of light hits a surface, it may either be absorbed or reflected.

 • The path of the light (straight line) is represented by a ray. A group of rays

travelling together is called a beam of light.

We can see ourselves in the mirror because of reflection and at the same time we

can also identify the colors of the object based on the color it reflects

Ex. The leaves are green because it is the green light of the sun that is reflected,

perceived by our eye, and interpreted by our brain.

Law of Reflection:

It states that the angle of incidence or incoming ray is equal to the angle of reflection

or outgoing ray. In the middle is the normal line.

Angle of incidence = Angle of reflection

Ɵi = Ɵr

Three things that affect how light is reflected:

▪ Surface of the Object

▪ Shape of the Object

▪ Color of the Object

Surface of the Object: Specular vs. diffuse

• Regular(specular) reflection:
 The word specular comes from the Latin word “speculum” meaning mirror.

When a parallel incident ray reflects on a Smooth Surface, it reflects in the same

direction. Smooth, shiny surfaces have a Specular reflection. Since the angle of

reflection depends only in the incident angle, parallel incident rays will reflect in the

same direction. Examples of specular reflections are the smooth water surface and

mirror.

• Irregular (diffuse) reflection:

When a light incident on a Rough Surface, it reflects in all directions this is

called irregular or diffuse reflection. Most of the natural surfaces are rough, the law of

reflection still applies here, but the parallel, incident rays of the surface are different

from each other reflecting in many different directions. Objects are visible because

of diffuse reflection.

Color of the Object: Black Vs White

Black is the absence of all colors, it does not reflect any colors but absorbs all

of them. And since more light is absorbed, more heat is also absorbed. White, on the

other hand, is the presence of all colors. White, therefore, reflects all the colors and

does not absorb any of it. The less light is absorbed, the less heat is absorbed.

Shape of the Object: Mirror

▪ Plane Mirror

Light is reflected straight back, resulting in an upright image that is the same

size as the original object. A plane mirror always forms a virtual image (behind the

mirror).

▪ Curved Mirror
 A concave mirror has a reflecting surface that is curved inward. If an object

is very close to the mirror, light is reflected in a way that an enlarged, upright image is

produced. If the object is far away, the image is reduced in size and upside down

inverted or smaller in size. Concave mirror It is curved inward and away from the

light source. It reflects light inward to a focal point

A convex mirror has a reflecting surface which curved outward. Results in

an image your eyes detect as upright and reduced in size. A Convex mirror is a

curved mirror in which the reflective surface bulges towards the light source. They

reflect light outward, therefore they are not used to focus light.

Parts of Spherical Mirror

▪ Center of Curvature (c) - the center of the sphere where the mirror was

taken.

▪ Vertex (V) - the center of the mirror, also called the pole of the mirror.

▪ Principal Focus (F) - the point where the reflected rays meet; it is midway

between C and V.

▪ Principal Axis - is the straight-line joining C and V, also called the optical

axis

▪ Radius of Curvature (R) - radius of the sphere; distance between C and V.

▪ Focal Length (f) - distance from C to F or from V to F; is equal to half of the

radius (R)

▪ Aperture - width of the mirror

Concave mirror (Converging mirror)

- Rays of light passing through a concave mirror meet a point on the principal axis.

To understand how this happens let’s perform this through ray diagram
Case 1: object is beyond C

Steps:

1. Pick a point on the top of the object and draw two incident rays traveling towards

the mirror.

First ray passes exactly through the focal point on the way to the mirror. The second

ray travels exactly parallel to the principal axis.

2. Once these incident rays strike the mirror, reflect them according to the two rules

of reflection for concave mirrors.

▪ Rules in Tracing the image formed by concave mirror using ray diagram

1. Any incident ray traveling parallel to the principal axis on the way to the mirror will

pass through the focal point upon reflection.

2. Any incident ray passing through the focal point on the way to the mirror will

travel parallel to the principal axis upon reflection.

Place arrowheads upon the rays to indicate their direction of travel. Extend the rays

past their point of intersection.

3. Mark the image of the top of the object. The image point of the top of the object is

the point where the two reflected rays intersect.

The goal of a ray diagram is to determine the location, size, orientation, and type of

image that is formed by the concave mirror.

 The image formed is inverted, real, and smaller than the object. The real image is

formed whenever reflected light passes through the image location. In-plane mirrors

always produce virtual images, concave mirrors can produce both real and virtual

images. A virtual image is formed if the object is located less than one focal length

from the concave mirror.

Convex mirror (Diverging mirror)

Sometimes referred to as a diverging mirror since incident light originates from the

same point and will reflect off the mirror surface and diverge.

To understand how this happens let’s perform through a ray diagram.

Steps:

1. Pick a point on the top of the object and draw two incident rays traveling towards

the mirror.

Using a straight edge, draw one ray that travels towards the focal point on the

opposite side of the mirror; this ray will strike the mirror before reaching the focal

point; stop the ray at the point of incidence with the mirror. Draw the second ray such

that it travels exactly parallel to the principal axis. Place arrowheads upon the rays to

indicate their direction of travel.

2. Once these incident rays strike the mirror, reflect them according to the two rules

of reflection for convex mirrors.

●Rules in Tracing the image formed by a convex mirror using a ray diagram.

1. Any incident ray traveling parallel to the principal axis on the way to a convex

mirror will reflect in such a manner that its extension will pass through the focal

point.

2. Any incident ray traveling towards a convex mirror such that its extension passes

through the focal point will reflect and travel parallel to the principal axis.

Place arrowheads upon the rays to indicate their direction of travel. The two rays

should be diverging upon reflection.

3. Locate and mark the image of the top of the object.

The image point of the top of the object is the point where the two reflected rays

intersect. Since the two reflected rays are diverging, they must be extended behind

the mirror to intersect. The image of this point will also lie upon the principal axis and

be the same distance from the mirror as the image of the top of the object.

The mirror equation expresses the quantitative relationship between the object

distance (do), the image distance (di), and the focal length (f). The equation is stated

as follows:
 The magnification equation relates the ratio of the image distance and object

distance to the ratio of the image height (hi) and object height (ho). The magnification

equation is stated as follows:

Before using the mirror equation, to describe the characteristics of the image

of a numerical don’t forget the sign conventions for the mirror.

▪ Focal length (f)

f is positive (+) if the mirror is a concave mirror

f is negative (-) if the mirror is a convex mirror

▪ Distance of image (di)

di is positive (+) if the image is real and located in front of the mirror (inverted)

di is negative (-) if the image is virtual and located in behind of the mirror (upright)

▪ height of image (hi)

hi is positive (+) if the image is upright

hi is negative (-) if the image is inverted

▪ Remember that doubling the focal length gives you the radius of curvature (rc)

▪ Half of the radius of curvature (rc) is equal to the focal length (f)

Sample Problem 1

The height of an object is 5cm and placed 30cm in front of a concave mirror that has

a focal length of 20cm. Calculate the following

a. distance of the image

b. the magnification
 c. the height/size of the image

Given: ho=5cm Equations:

do= 30cm

f=20cm

Required:

di=?

M=?

Hi=?

Solution:

a. distance of the image (di)

1/f = 1/di + 1/do

1/f-1/do=1/di

1/di=1/f-1/do

1/di = 3-2/ 60cm

1/di = 1/60cm

di = 60cm

b. magnification (M)

M=-di/do

M=-60cm/30cm

M=-2

c. height of the image (hi)

M= hi/ho

M ho =hi
 hi=M ho

hi = (-2) (5cm)

hi= -10cm