Close Reading — Reflection and Refraction - RUAE Light rays change direction when they reflect off a surface. Light does not bounce off a surface as the only thing that bounces in Physics is a ball. The ‘Law of Reflection’ states that, on reflection from a smooth surface, the angle of the incident ray is equal to the angle of the reflected ray. The angles are all measured from the normal, which is an imaginary line which is at 90° to the reflecting surface. This works for flat (plane) mirrors and curved mirrors. When light travels from one transparent medium into another, such as air into glass or air into water, the ray of light will change direction. A normal line is also drawn at 90° from the boundary between the two mediums, with the angle of incidence being the angle from the normal in air and the angle of refraction being the angle from the normal in the non-air medium, such as glass or water. The speed and the wavelength of the light are greater in air than in the non-air medium, however the frequency of the light is the same in both air and the non-air medium. Applications involving reflection such as looking at yourself in the mirror, using fibre optic cables where light transfers information from one place to another in telecommunications and medical systems, are used in everyday life. A simple application of refraction could involve a visible spectrum being formed (not a rainbow!!!) and it is also applied in the formation of optical illusions. Questions 1) What happens to light rays when they reflect off a surface? 2) State the ‘Law of Reflection’. 3) Where are the angles of incidence and reflection measured from? 4) In refraction, is the angle of light greater in air or in the non-air medium? 5) What happens to the speed and wavelength of light when moving from air into glass? 6) Which quantity of light is the same in air and any non-air medium? 7) State one application for reflection and one for refraction. 8) Which term must never be used in Physics in relation to the visible spectrum?Law of Reflection Aim - To investigate the relationship between the angle of incidence and angle of reflection using a plane mirror. Apparatus — Plane mirror, ray box, single slit, power supply and protractor. Plane wrror << Normat {drawn ata right angle tothe muror surface) Ray box with single sit Instructions + Drawaline on the middle of your white shect of paper. Draw in the normal as shown in the diagram above, Place your mirror on the first line you drew. * Direct one ray of light at the plane mirror as shown above. * Mark the path of this ray and the reflected ray. . Measure the angle of incidence, between the first ray and the normal. Measure the angle of reflection, between the reflected ray and the normal. . Record these two angles in a suitable table. . Repeat for other angles. + Give a conclusion to your experiment.Visible Spectrum Aim — To show that white light contains a spectrum of colours. Apparatus - Glass or Perspex prisms, ray box, single slit, white paper and a power supply. Ray of white light from ray box, Prism To power Ray box with a single slit supply . Instructions . Direct a ray of white light at the prism. . Describe what the prism does to a single ray of white light. . Draw a diagram to show the effect that you have observed. . Which colour is bent most? List the seven colours of the visible spectrum produced.