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#What is the Law of Reflection of Light? Definition - Overview

Instructor: Richard Cardenas

Richard Cardenas has taught Physics for 15 years. He has a Ph.D. in Physics with a focus on Biological Physics.

In this lesson you will learn about the concept of reflection, including one of the simplest laws of physics, the law of reflection. You will learn about the main features of the law of reflection as well as some application and facts about reflection in general.

Definition

Have you ever wondered why you are able to see your reflection in a mirror or why you see things reflected in the first place? An even more important question is why do we even see a table, or a chair or our phones sitting on the table? The answer to these questions happens to be one of the simplest laws in physics; it is called the law of reflection.

The Law of Reflection states that the angle of the incident light ray is equal to the angle of the reflected light ray. To understand what these angles and light rays stand for, consider the following diagram depicting the law of reflection. In this depiction, the blue band represents a mirror, which reflects rays of light.

So this law states that any ray of light that strikes an object will reflect off the object such that the striking or incident angle is identical to the reflecting angle (as measured from the normal).

More on Reflection

Specula Reflection

Specular reflection is reflection off smooth surfaces. We can think of a beam of light as being composed of a bundle of many rays of light. When the beam hits a smooth surface like a mirror or a still pond, the rays collectively travel together with the same intensity and undisturbed. The figure below illustrates specular reflection.

Specular Reflection: Reflecting off a Smooth Surface