Asked by violet
Stefan is writing a report about the law of reflection. In his report, he says that the angle of incidence is the angle between the surface of the mirror and the incoming ray. Do you agree with him? Why or why not?
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No — I do not agree.
The angle of incidence is defined as the angle between the incoming ray and the normal to the surface at the point of incidence. The normal is a line perpendicular to the surface. The law of reflection states that the angle of incidence (measured from the normal) equals the angle of reflection (also measured from the normal).
If you measure the angle from the surface instead, you get the complementary angle (90° − the true angle of incidence). For example, a ray striking a mirror head-on (along the normal) has an angle of incidence 0°, but its angle with the surface is 90°. That shows Stefan’s statement is incorrect.
The angle of incidence is defined as the angle between the incoming ray and the normal to the surface at the point of incidence. The normal is a line perpendicular to the surface. The law of reflection states that the angle of incidence (measured from the normal) equals the angle of reflection (also measured from the normal).
If you measure the angle from the surface instead, you get the complementary angle (90° − the true angle of incidence). For example, a ray striking a mirror head-on (along the normal) has an angle of incidence 0°, but its angle with the surface is 90°. That shows Stefan’s statement is incorrect.
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