Get access to the common mistakes students make in their A-Level Physics exams. Inspired by The Examiner's reports this is an un-missable opportunity to find out where precious marks are dropped.
Reflection
Angle of Incidence = Angle of Reflection
Note: All angles are measured from the normal to the mirror surface.
Properties of an image in a plane mirror are:
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The image and the object are equal distances from the mirror.
- The image is laterally inverted. (Which is why an object appears to be back to front in a mirror, left becomes right and right becomes left.)
- The image is virtual or imaginary as there is no light actually meeting at that point. You see the image because your brain thinks it is there - your brain always assumes that light has travelled in a straight line!
All waves can be reflected, but need different surfaces to reflect them. For example, high frequency sound waves can be reflected off dense materials in the body, and this is used to see a picture of babies in the womb - for instance, ultrasound.