Learn about reflection of light, the laws of reflection, and how plane mirrors form images.
The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection, and the incident ray, reflected ray, and normal all lie in the same plane.
A light ray hits a mirror at 30° from the normal. What is the angle of reflection?
30°, since angle of incidence equals angle of reflection
What is the 'normal' in the context of reflection?
An imaginary line perpendicular to the mirror's surface at the point where light strikes it
A plane mirror forms a virtual, laterally inverted image that is the same size as the object, located as far behind the mirror as the object is in front.
An object is 5m in front of a plane mirror. How far behind the mirror does the image appear?
5m behind the mirror
What does 'laterally inverted' mean for a mirror image?
Left and right appear reversed, like text appearing backwards
1. A light ray hits a mirror at 40° from the normal. Find the angle of reflection.
2. State the two laws of reflection.
3. Is the image formed by a plane mirror real or virtual?
4. An object is 3m from a plane mirror. How far is the image from the mirror?
5. What does it mean that a mirror image is 'laterally inverted'?