Question

A clear reflection of Mount Hood can be seen in Mirror Lake. Surfaces, such as this one, allow for specular reflection. Light can be thought of as a bundle of individual light rays which are traveling parallel to each other. Each individual light ray follows the law of reflection. If the bundle of light rays is incident upon a smooth surface, like Mirror Lake,

Answer 1

All the light rays are reflected into the same direction

Step-by-step explanation:

Reflection occurs when a light ray hits a surface and bounces back at a certain angle.

The law of reflection states that:

- The angle of incidence, the angle of reflection and the normal to the surface all lie in the same plane

- The angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence

(where the angle of incidence is the angle between the incident ray and the normal to the surface, while the angle of reflection is the angle between the reflected ray and the normal to the surface)

We have two cases:

- if the surface is completely smooth (such as the Mirror lake), then all the light rays coming from same direction have same angle of incidence, so they are reflected into the same direction, allowing to see a clear image of the object above --> in this case we talk about specular reflection

- if the surface is not 100% smooth, then the light rays coming from same direction do not hit the surface at same angle of incidence, therefore they are reflected into different directions, and it is not possible to observe a clear image of the object above --> in this case we talk about diffuse reflection