Law of reflection
- the hatched vertical line on the left represents the plane mirror;
- the dashed line is called the normal, drawn at 90掳 to the surface of the mirror;
- the angle of incidence, i, is the angle between the normal and incident ray;
- the angle of reflection, r, is the angle between the normal and reflected ray.
The law of reflection states that: angle of incidence i = angle of reflection r.
For example, if a light ray hits a surface with an angle of incidence of 45掳, it will be reflected with an angle of reflection of 45掳.