CBSE Class 10 Answered

Dear Student,

Reflection of Light: Reflected waves are simply those waves that are neither transmitted nor absorbed, but are reflected from the surface of the medium they encounter. Light undergoes this kind of reflection.

When a wave (light wave) approaches a reflecting surface, such as a mirror, the wave that strikes the surface is called the incident wave, and the one that bounces back is called the reflected wave (refer to figure 2-4). An imaginary line perpendicular to the point at which the incident wave strikes the reflecting surface is called the normal, or the perpendicular. The angle between the incident wave and the normal is called the angle of incidence.

The angle between the reflected wave and the normal is called the angle of reflection.

Laws of Reflection of Light: If the reflecting surface is very smooth, the reflection of light that occurs is called specular or regular reflection. The laws of reflection are as follows:

1. The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal to the reflection surface at the point of the incidence lie in the same plane.
2. The angle which the incident ray makes with the normal is equal to the angle which the reflected ray makes to the same normal.