Spheres reflecting the floor and each other.
'Reflection' is the change in direction of a
wave front at an between two dissimilar
media so that the wave front returns into the medium from which it originated. Common examples include the reflection of
light,
sound and water waves.
Reflections
Reflection of light may be ''
specular'' (that is, mirror-like) or ''
diffuse'' (that is, not retaining the image, only the
energy) depending on the nature of the interface. Furthermore, if the interface is between dielectric-conductor or dielectric-dielectric media, the
phase of the reflected wave may or may not be inverted, respectively.
θi = θr.
the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection
A
mirror provides the most common model for specular light reflection and consists of a glass sheet in front of a metallic coating where the reflection actually occurs. Reflection is enhanced in metals by suppression of wave propagation beyond their
skin depths. It is also possible for reflection to occur from the surface of
transparent media, such as
water or
glass.
In the diagram, a light ray 'PO' strikes a vertical mirror at point 'O', and the reflected ray is 'OQ'. By projecting an imaginary line through point 'O' perpendicular to the mirror, known as the ''normal'', we can measure the ''angle of incidence'', ''θ
i'' and the ''angle of reflection'', ''θ
r''. The ''law of reflection'' states that ''θ
i = θ
r'', or in other words, the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection.
In fact, reflection of light may occur whenever light travels from a medium of a given
refractive index into a medium with a different refractive index. In the most general case, a certain fraction of the light is reflected from the interface, and the remainder is
refracted. Solving
Maxwell's equations for a light ray striking a boundary allows the derivation of the
Fresnel equations, which can be used to predict how much of the light reflected, how much is refracted in a given situation.
Total internal reflection of light from a denser medium occurs if the angle of incidence is above the
critical angle.
When light reflects off a material denser (with higher refractive index) than the external medium, it undergoes a 180° phase reversal. In contrast, a less dense, lower refractive index material will reflect light in phase. This is an important principle in the field of
thin-film optics.
Specular reflection at a curved surface forms an image which may be
magnified or demagnified;
curved mirrors have
optical power. Such mirrors may have surfaces that are
spherical or
parabolic.
Other types of reflection
Diffuse reflection
Diffuse reflection
When light strikes a rough or granular surface, it bounces off in all directions due to the microscopic irregularities of the interface. Thus, an 'image' is not formed. This is called ''diffuse reflection''. The exact form of the reflection depends on the structure of the surface. One common model for diffuse reflection is
Lambertian reflectance, in which the light is reflected with equal
luminance (in photometry) or
radiance (in radiometry) in all directions, as defined by
Lambert's cosine law.
Retroreflection
Working principle of a corner reflector
Some surfaces exhibit ''retroreflection''. The structure of these surfaces is such that light is returned in the direction from which it came. A simple retroreflector can be made by placing three ordinary mirrors mutually perpendicular to one another (a
corner reflector). The image produced is the inverse of one produced by a single mirror.
A surface can be made partially retroreflective by depositing a layer of tiny refractive spheres on it or by creating small pyramid like structures (cube corner reflection). In both cases internal reflection causes the light to be reflected back to where it originated. This is used to make traffic signs and automobile license plates reflect light mostly back in the direction from which it came. In this application perfect retroreflection is not desired, since the light would then be directed back into the headlights of an oncoming car rather than to the driver's eyes.
Complex conjugate reflection
Light bounces exactly back in the direction from which it came due to a nonlinear optical process. In this type of reflection, not only the direction of the light is reversed, but the actual wavefronts are reversed as well. A conjugate reflector can be used to remove
aberrations from a beam by reflecting it and then passing the reflection through the aberrating optics a second time.
Neutron reflection
Materials that reflect
neutrons, for example
beryllium, are used in
nuclear reactors and
nuclear weapons. In the physical and biological sciences, the reflection of neutrons off atoms within a material is commonly used to determine its internal structures.
[1]
Sound reflection
When a longitudinal
sound wave strikes a flat surface, sound is reflected in a coherent manner provided that the dimension of the reflective surface is large compared to the wavelength of the sound. Note that audible sound has a very wide frequency range (from 20 to about 17000 Hz), and thus a very wide range of wavelengths (from about 20 mm to 17 m). As a result, the overall nature of the reflection varies according to the texture and structure of the surface. For example, porous materials will absorb some energy, and rough materials (where rough is relative to the wavelength) tend to reflect in many directions — to scatter the energy, rather than to reflect it coherently. This leads into the field of
architectural acoustics, because the nature of these reflections is critical to the auditory feel of a space.
In the theory of exterior
noise mitigation, reflective surface size mildly detracts from the concept of a
noise barrier by reflecting some of the sound into the opposite direction.
Seismic reflection
Seismic waves produced by
earthquakes or other sources (such as
explosions) may be reflected by layers within the
Earth. Study of the deep reflections of waves generated by earthquakes has allowed
seismologists to determine the layered
structure of the Earth. Shallower reflections are used in
reflection seismology to study the Earth's
crust generally, and in particular to prospect for
petroleum and
natural gas deposits.
Quantum interpretation
All interactions between
photons and matter are described as series of absorptions and emissions of photons. When an arriving photon strikes a single molecule at the surface of a material, is absorbed and almost immediately reemitted, the ‘new’ photon may be emitted in any direction, thus causing diffuse reflection. [citation needed]
Specular reflection (following
Hero's equi-angular reflection law) is a
quantum mechanical effect explained as the sum of the most likely paths the photons can take. Light-matter interaction is a topic in
quantum electrodynamics, and is described in detail by
Richard Feynman in his book ''
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter''.
The energy of the incoming photon may match the energy required to change the molecule from one state to another, causing a transition in
kinetic,
rotational,
electronic or
vibrational energy. When this occurs, the photon may not be reemitted or alternatively may be reemitted with a loss of energy. These effects are known as
Raman,
Brillouin and
Compton scattering.
See also
★
Diffraction
★
Reflectivity
★
Refraction
★
Ripple tank for a picture and description of water
waves reflecting off a boundary.
★
Snell's law
★
Echo satellite
★
Anti-reflective coating
★
Huygens-Fresnel principle
★
Reflection coefficient
External links
★
Java explanatory animation-close relation to refraction
★
Acoustic reflection
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