Reflection Definition and 917 Threads

How does reflection work in non-metals and metals? If you take, for example, a polished brass surface (or whatever really) and an incident photon, is the photon being absorbed and re-emitted by an atom at the surface of the reflective brass? If so, how is it that the re-emitted photon is...

The law of reflection states that the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. In the event of a beam of light reflecting upon a horizontal surface, the incidence angle is 45 degrees (as a variable, 45 degrees will be represented by A). The angle formed by the reflection will...

Hi when using the WKB approx, is there a general method to find these Refelction and Transmission coefficients, I have tried looking in books and on the net and I can't find a 'general' formula, they tend tjust to be quoted. I know that |T|^{2}+|R|^{2}=1 . And generally that T=...

Homework Statement If the graph of 1/x is reflected in the y-axis, translated 3/4 units to the right and 2 units up, the resulting graph would have the equation... A) 1/(x-2) + 0.75 B) 3/(4x) +2 C) 2 - 1/(3/4x) D) -1/(4x-3) + 2 E) 1/(3-4x) + 2 2. The attempt at a solution So the general...

Homework Statement See image Homework Equations n1sin(theta1) = n2sin(theta2) 1/s + 1/s' = 1/f The Attempt at a Solution My question is for the second part. I think I've figured out why I got it wrong, but I'm not sure. So since the object distance (s) should be approximately 21 cm, then...

Homework Statement The critical angle for total internal reflection for a substance is 58.0°. What is the polarizing angle for this substance? Homework Equations Index of refraction: n = 1 / sin(θ_{c}) and n = tan (θ_{p}) The Attempt at a Solution So I plugged in the numbers for...

I am currently in training to become an analyst using thermal imagery. In the studies I have been introduced to cold sky reflection on thermal imagery, however the instructor explained it as a surface 'reflecting the cold from the sky' which, as far as I'm aware, doesn't fit with the second law...

any one knows why sound wave reflects at the opening end of the resonance tube? is the air inside the tube different from those outside. from the expriment, when the incident wave interference with the reflected one, the destructive point reachs almost zero showing that the reflected one has...

Here is the question: Here is a link to the question: Let S: I have posted a link there to this topic so the OP can find my response.

I have indirectly sought the answer to this for some time (since I studied an introductory course in optics 'long' ago), but nobody has been able to give a satisfactory answer, and I have not been able to find the exact answer on the Internet either. My question is about optics, and more...

Hello, I am think of using chrome paint to create a uniquely shaped mirror. I was wondering if anyone has done studies to quantify how much light is reflected from different types of chrome and how much the light scatter. I realize chrome paint isn't the same as chrome, but I couldn't find...

As far as I know, Bragg diffraction happens for incident particles which are free; for example free electrons or X-ray are Bragg-reflected under the special conditions. Why the Bragg diffraction happens for electrons which are not free in a crystal?

Hi, I am trying to prove the second law of reflection using fermat's principle and I am not entirely sure how to start it. By the way the second law of reflection is: The incident ray, reflect ray and normal ray all lie in a single plane.

Homework Statement One of the contests at the school carnival is to throw a spear at an underwater target lying flat on the bottom of a pool. The water is 0.900 m deep. You're standing on a small stool that places your eyes 3.20 m above the bottom of the pool. As you look at the target, your...

Homework Statement Unpolarized light falls on an angle of 37.5 ° with a plan glass surface. The reflected light polarization is examined with a Polaroid. The ratio between maximum and minimum intensity from Polaroid when it is rotated around is 4.0. Which is the refractive of index glass...

Unpolarized light falls on an angle of 37.5 ° with a plan glass surface. The reflected light polarization is examined with a Polaroid. The ratio between maximum and minimum intensity from Polaroid when it is rotated around is 4.0. Which is the refractive of index glass? I would like to use the...

What exactly is the difference between Frensel reflection and total internal reflection with regards to the efficiency of an LED? Do they both occur at the semiconductor/ air interface? I am a bit confused, thanks for the help.

using a radiometer reference, what is the equation to the force or mass of the heat reflecting of a specified surface area.

A string with a density/length of rho and tension T has an elastic spring with stiffness k at x=0. There is a step pulse (fi = H(t)) incident on this discontinuity. Determine the reflected and transmitted waves. Im not sure what boundary condition to use at the location of the spring. All...

Hello! I´m trying to read Jacksons 'Classical Electrodynamics' and solving some problems. At the moment I´m stuck at problem 7.3. I started looking at suggested solutions (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pran/jackson/P505/F07_hw11a.pdf) but I need some help I guess. Looking at how other people...

Im trying to calculate the refelction angle of 2 points in a 2d plane, but not the same distance away from the reflection surface, and I'm drawing a blank. Any help would be hugely appreciated.

Why does frequency of a wave stay the same during transmission and reflection?

Hello everyone, this is my first post so bare with me... I was searching the internet for light reflection and all other properties of light.Since we all know light requires a surface to reflect so that we see the objects. Can we reflect the light in space without requiring a surface?

Hello, guys! Yesterday I saw my reflection in a mirror and noticed that my teeth had two images on the mirror, and the rest of my face did not. I tried in different mirrors, and the result was the same. At first, I thought it could be the effect of two surfaces of the mirror, and in that case...

During refraction the different colors that white light is composed of are dispersed but does this happen during reflection or total internal reflection?

If the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle then it is reflected back into same medium. Is this reflection normal reflection? (as in it obeys all the rules of reflection, like reflection in mirrors) Or is it a bit different?

Hi, I was hoping someone could provide a good qualitative description of how metals reflect light, preferably with reference. From my understanding, metals reflect low frequency light quite well. I believe the mechanism is that the light oscillates the electron back and forth. Q1...

hi, I am bothered by some question for a long time. From basic optics, i know that the the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection [where we define the incident angle as the angle between the beam and the normal to the surface of course]. What I can't understand is why when a...

Homework Statement Im having problems with these questions i just can't seem to get them Any help would be good thank you in advance 1. An object located 40cm in front of a mirror produces an erect image 80cm from the mirror. Find the radius of curvature for the mirror, and state the...

Hey everyone, I'm reading a chapter on reflection of Light and I had some doubts:- 1 Is a real, erect image possible? What about a virtual, inverted image? 2 How can you see a real image without a screen? Can you see it in the air or something? 3 When you move away from a plane mirror...

In ch 30-7 of the Lectures, Feynman explains that the field of a plane of oscillating charges at a point P is proportional to the velocity of the charges, considered at the appropriate retarded time (retarded by the vertical distance from the point P). Feynman derives this formula only for...

Homework Statement What is the minimum thickness of coating which should be placed on a lens in order to minimize reflection of 401 nm light? The index of refraction of the coating material is 1.31 and the index of the glass is 1.56. Homework Equations I haven't been able to attempt the...

I was wondering what happens with linearly polarized light when it is reflected from a surface such as paper? Since it undergoes diffuse reflection, it is scattered in all directions, but does it become randomly polarized, as well? I can't really find an answer to that anywhere, so I'd be...

Homework Statement A mirror is moving uniformly in a direction normal to its plane with velocity v=βc. Given the angle of incidence and frequency of an incident photon (θ_e,nu_e in the figure), calculate the reflection angle and the observed new frequency (θ_i,nu_i in the figure). Also...

The short summary is that my high school foundations of math were absolutely terrible as I was instructed from the youngest age that mathematics was entirely about computation and that being talented in math meant being able to handle lots of number grinding in your head without a calculator. I...

[SIZE="4"]Homework Statement Show that If \phi(x,y,z) is a solution of Laplace's equation, show that \frac{1}{r}\phi (\frac{x}{r^2} ,\frac{y}{r^2} , \frac{z}{r^2} ) is also a solution Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution let \psi= \frac{1}{r} \phi (\frac{x}{r^2}...

Hello. How does light get reflected? Do photons act like balls which bounce off a surface? If I shoot a single photon which has a frequency of an orange color, and that photon hits a tomato, it should get absorbed, right? What if it hits an orange? Will it bounce off an atom? How does that...

The question can be found at this link: http://gyazo.com/ee82873af32d76898ab1c5b9f058a2eb My reasoning for part A follows as such: Because the radius of curvature is smaller in the second mirror than in the initial elliptical mirror, every point on the second mirror (other than the tangent...

Homework Statement Transparent wax of refractive index n=1.3 is deposited on top of a glass plate of width 1cm and refractive index n=1.5. The thickness of the wax is 0.01mm at one end of the plate and tapers uniformly to zero at the other end of the plate, which is defined to be at x=0. At...

Homework Statement Let L: R^3 -> R^3 be the linear transformation that is defined by the reflection about the plane P: 2x + y -2z = 0 in R^3. Namely, L(u) = u if u is the vector that lies in the plane P; and L(u) = -u if u is a vector perpendicular to the plane P. Find an orthonormal basis for...

I post in the QM section as an answer in terms of photons rather than just EM waves would be better.

When we talk about Snell's law, and total internal reflection in particular, we usually will draw diagrams as if light is coming off a point in a single, straight line (that bends at an interface, of course). My question is, though, how does this light behave when it's coming off an extended...

I'm guessing it has to do with electron excitation, and the release of EM waves when the electrons fall back to their ground state, but I am want to learn more about this in detail. I've barely covered Maxwell's Equations and optics in a lower division general physics course, so there's a whole...

Does total internal reflection happen with all types of waves, or just electromagnetic ones?

http://plc.cwru.edu/tutorial/enhanced/files/lc/phase/Graphics%5Cschem.BMP I was hoping someone could help me with understanding why a row of polarizes reflects a light wave when the whole row (the pitch P) is the same length as the wavelength of the light...

When a ray interacts with a solid if the surface is polished reflection occurs. This is true even if the material absorbs at the specific wave lenght? In other words if the material absorbs at the specific λ, can occurs Fresnel reflection ? Or: Fresnel reflection has always all the same λs of...

I am building an enclosure for my laser that emits at 1550nm. I need to integrate a window for the laser light to pass through. Anybody have any recommendations on what kind of glass would work best so that the optical losses are kept at a minimum? Ideally, it would be commercially available...

I was reading about a case of total internal reflection in mirrors and something got me curious... Is there anything such as 'weak refractions'?? In the diagram of the mirror I saw, as a ray of light from an object entered a mirror, it was reflected by the silver coating, and then by the...

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/9712/refractionk.jpg Now my understanding is that water slows down when it goes over a shallow area because the ground under the shallow water is interfering with the wave. When this happens the wave becomes more transverse which I guess is due to reflection as...

Homework Statement A radio-wave transmitter and a receiver, separated by a distance d = 50.0m, are both h = 35.0m above the ground. The receiver can receive signals directly from the transmitter and indirectly from signals that reflect from the ground. Assume the ground is level between the...