Reflection |
What is Regular reflection? Regular reflection happens when light hits an flat object and bounces back. A mirror is simply a smooth flat sheet of glass with a silver coating on the back. All the light rays hit the mirror's surface and bounce back to your eyes at the exact same angle, letting you see yourself. A picture of reflection can be found here. What's Diffuse Reflection? When you break it down, it's just the opposite. Diffuse Reflection happens when light hits an uneven surface. The reason why you can't see a reflection on an uneven surface is because when light hits it, instead of bouncing off at the same angle, it bounces off in different directions. That way, you can't see a reflection. A picture of Diffuse Reflection can be found here. What is total internal reflection, then? Total internal reflection is the complete reflection of light by the inside surface of the medium. Light can stay inside a medium and not pass through the surface to the outside. Have you ever seen light travel inside a stream of water, where the water has light in it, but not the area around it? That's total internal reflection. |
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