Light

• • Light travels as a transverse wave and can be reflected by surfaces and objects.
• Smooth, shiny surfaces produce specular reflections, and rough surfaces produce diffuse reflections
• • Ray diagrams are used to show the path of light rays which are reflected and how images are formed in a mirror.
• Angle of Light

  
• If parallel rays of light hit the surface of a plane mirror, they are all reflected in the same direction. This is known as specular reflection. Because all the light reflects in a predictable way, images can be formed by specular reflections.

  
• When light reflects from a plane mirror, it produces a clear image. This image:

  • appears to be behind the mirror
  • is the right way up
  • is ‘laterally inverted’ (letters and words look as if they have been written backwards)

  A ray diagram can be used to show how an image in a mirror forms:

  
• The ray travelling towards the mirror or object is the incident ray