Final answer:
The rule for reflection is based on the law of reflection, which states that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. To confirm this, you can conduct an experiment by shining a flashlight at a mirror and drawing the incident and reflected rays. This helps understand specular and diffuse reflections in ray tracing.
Step-by-step explanation:
To write a rule for reflection, we base it on the law of reflection which states that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. This means when shining a light at a mirror, if you measure the angle between the incoming light ray (incident ray) and a normal to the point of incidence (an imaginary line perpendicular to the surface), it will be identical to the angle between the reflected ray and the same normal. When conducting a take-home experiment, you can confirm this rule by using a flashlight or a laser pointer to shine a light at a reflective surface and then drawing the incident and reflected rays on a piece of paper to measure these angles. The experiment helps in visualizing ray tracing, a method used to predict the path of rays of light as they travel through a reflective system. Surfaces like a shiny metallic lid will exhibit specular reflection, while surfaces like skin will show diffuse reflection due to the irregularities on the surface.