How Many Types Of Reflection Are There?

Surfaces reflect light back into space. All polished or glossy surfaces have the property of reflecting light. Reflection is the observation of light bouncing off surfaces. The same medium from which the beam was incident on the surface is used to conduct the light after reflection. Light's velocity is unaffected by the reflection phenomena; all that happens is that the light's direction of incidence is reversed. This can be seen on any surface, regardless of how rough or polished it is. The degree of smoothness of the surface will determine the direction of the reflected ray; on a smooth surface, the reflected ray emerges at the same angle as the angle of incidence, whereas in a case of irregular reflection, the reflected ray does not emerge at the same angle as the angle of incidence.

The two basic types of reflection are as follows:

• Regular Reflection

• Irregular Reflection

Reflection

When a light ray approaches a smooth polished surface and reflects from it, it is called a reflection of light. Radiation to a surface is reflected by the surface. The beam that bounces back is called the reflected beam. If you draw a perpendicular to a reflecting surface, it is called a normal.

Types of Reflection

Regular reflection - When a ray of light is reflected from a plane, it is called ocular reflection. Therefore, if parallel rays strike the plane, the reflected rays will also be parallel to each other. Specular reflection generally occurs on highly reflective surfaces. It is similar to polished mirrors, silver, and other materials.

Irregular reflection - The reflection of light rays from a rough surface is called diffuse reflection. Therefore, when parallel rays hit a rough surface, the reflected rays are no longer parallel to each other. Uneven surfaces such as opaque objects such as books, chairs and tables.

Laws of Reflection

• The light ray that strikes a reflecting surface and is reflected back is referred to as the incident ray and the reflected ray, respectively.

• The normal is a hypothetical line that runs perpendicular to the reflecting surface and through the location of the reflection.

• The angle formed between the incident rays and the normal is referred to as the angle of incidence (i) and The angle of reflection (r) is the angle formed by the normal and the reflected rays.

Scattering of Light

Light is scattered when it hits very small gas particles, water droplets, or even dust particles. The amount of light scattering depends on the wavelength of the light and the size of the particles. The light in the sky is filled with all the colours of the rainbow, VIBGYOR. So the question is, "Why is the sky blue?"

This is because light hits different particles in the atmosphere and scatters in all directions. Blue has a shorter wavelength than red, so it scatters more than red. Due to this, the sky appears to be blue.

Examples of Reflection of Light in daily life

The following are a few of the most fascinating instances of light reflection in daily life:

• Because light scatters in all directions when it strikes various atmospheric particles, the sky is blue. Blue is scattered more than red because it has a shorter wavelength. Because of this, the sky seems blue.

• The sky has already dispersed much of the blue light that had been moving through the atmosphere all day, which is why the sunset appears red when it does. Red light prevails at dusk.

• Because the water droplets are far larger than the wavelength of light, clouds seem white. In order to make white, all the colours scatter in various ways.