Reflections occur when waves hit an object and travel back through the medium. Light waves follow the law of reflection, while sound waves do not. Non-smooth objects reflect light to create color. Some materials exhibit total internal reflection, such as fiber-optic cables.
Scientifically defined, reflections are the changes in wave direction, which occur when a wave hits an object and then travels back through the medium it came from. When we talk about reflections, we are most often referring to light waves or visual images. All types of waves can be reflected, including waves in water, as well as light and sound waves. The behavior of particular reflections depends on the type of energy carried in the wave.
An example of this is the contrast between the reflections of light and those of sound. An echo is a sound wave that is reflected, but it’s not always easy to tell the origin of the sound wave. Light waves, however, follow an entirely different and stricter set of rules. Light waves follow the so-called law of reflection, which states that the angle at which light strikes a smooth reflective object is equal to the angle at which it is reflected.
The law of reflection does not mean that light always bounces back to where it came from. Conversely, if light strikes at a steep angle, for example, it will be reflected at the same steep angle, but in the opposite direction. We can view it from the angle where the image of a cloud or mountain is reflected in a calm lake, or the way a properly angled mirror can allow us to see around a corner.
Non-smooth objects also reflect light, albeit in a different way. These types of reflections are what make up the color of an object. For example, the red petals of a rose are red because they reflect the red wavelengths of visible light. Other wavelengths are absorbed, but the reflected ones scatter in all directions, thus reaching our eyes. The same principle applies to any object that we observe, i.e. that we see it only because it reflects light towards our eyes.
Some materials exhibit a property known as total internal reflection. This means that light waves traveling through such a medium do not exit it and are reflected back into the medium at the same angle. Fiber-optic cables have this property, which allows them to carry light waves in circles, around corners, and over long distances. The light only comes out when it reaches the end of the fiber. Even the surface of the water can cause the same phenomenon, if observed from below.
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