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Physics Lesson 12.2.1 - What is Reflection?
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Welcome to our Physics lesson on What is Reflection?, this is the first lesson of our suite of physics lessons covering the topic of Reflection of Light, you can find links to the other lessons within this tutorial and access additional physics learning resources below this lesson.
What is Reflection?
We have discussed about situations in which a wave encounters a small obstacle and therefore, the wave passes around this obstacle but it still moves in the original direction. Such phenomenon is known as diffraction, as discussed in our physics tutorial on the Diffraction of Waves.
But what happens when a wave encounters a large obstacle on its way? In such cases, the wave cannot pass around the obstacle but it turns back after colliding with the obstacle as shown in the figure. We say the wave reflects.
By definition, reflection is the change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two different media so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated. Common examples of waves' reflection include the reflection of sound and water waves and especially of light waves.
You have reached the end of Physics lesson 12.2.1 What is Reflection?. There are 4 lessons in this physics tutorial covering Reflection of Light, you can access all the lessons from this tutorial below.
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Enjoy the "What is Reflection?" physics lesson? People who liked the "Reflection of Light lesson found the following resources useful:
- Definition Feedback. Helps other - Leave a rating for this definition (see below)
- Optics Physics tutorial: Reflection of Light. Read the Reflection of Light physics tutorial and build your physics knowledge of Optics
- Optics Revision Notes: Reflection of Light. Print the notes so you can revise the key points covered in the physics tutorial for Reflection of Light
- Optics Practice Questions: Reflection of Light. Test and improve your knowledge of Reflection of Light with example questins and answers
- Check your calculations for Optics questions with our excellent Optics calculators which contain full equations and calculations clearly displayed line by line. See the Optics Calculators by iCalculator™ below.
- Continuing learning optics - read our next physics tutorial: Refraction of Light
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