what illustration depicts light rays undergoing reflection by the mirror, where are the two arrows pointing? and are they reflecting or not and in which way?

1 answer

In an illustration depicting light rays undergoing reflection by a mirror, you typically see the following elements:

  1. Mirror Surface: A straight line representing the reflective surface of the mirror, often shown as a vertical line.

  2. Incoming Light Rays: Arrows pointing towards the mirror, representing the direction in which light is traveling before it hits the mirror. These arrows usually point towards the mirror surface at an angle.

  3. Reflected Light Rays: After the light rays hit the mirror, they bounce off. The reflected rays are shown as arrows that point away from the mirror surface. These arrows reflect the change in direction of the light after hitting the mirror.

In terms of the arrows’ directions:

  • Incoming Arrows: They point towards the mirror.
  • Reflected Arrows: They point away from the mirror.

When light reflects off a mirror, the angle of incidence (the angle between the incoming light ray and the normal, or perpendicular line to the mirror surface at the point of incidence) is equal to the angle of reflection (the angle between the reflected light ray and the normal).

Overall, in such an illustration, you would observe that the light rays are indeed reflecting off the mirror, and the two sets of arrows indicate the paths of the incoming and reflected rays, demonstrating the principle of reflection.