Computer Applications
With the help of diagrams, explain the difference between regular and irregular reflection.
Answer
Regular reflection — It occurs when a beam of light falls on a smooth and polished surface, such as a plane mirror. In the figure shown below, a parallel beam of light is incident on a plane mirror. The reflected beam is also parallel and it is in a fixed direction. It can be seen only from a particular direction.
Irregular reflection — It occurs when a beam of light falls on a rough or ordinary surface such as the walls of a room or the page of a book which appear smooth but have many small projections over it.
In the figure given below, light rays fall at different points on a rough surface and each ray gets reflected from it obeying the laws of reflection of light. Due to uneven surface at different points, light rays gets reflected in different directions and give rise to diffused or irregular reflection.
As a result, reflected light spreads over a wide area and it does not follow a particular direction. Hence, reflected light can be seen from anywhere.
Related Questions
The figure given below shows an incident ray AO and the normal ON on a plane mirror. The angle which the incident ray AO makes with the mirror is 30°.
(a) Find the angle of incidence.
(b) Draw the reflected ray and then find the angle between the incident and reflected rays.
The diagram below shows a point object P in front of a plane mirror MM1.
(a) Complete the diagram by taking two rays from the point P to show the formation of its image.
(b) In the diagram, mark the position of eye to see the image.
(c) Is the image formed real or virtual? Explain why.
The diagram shown below shows an object XY in front of a plane mirror MM1. Draw on the diagram, path of two rays from each point X and Y of the object to show the formation of it's image.
State the laws of reflection and describe an experiment to verify them.