MECHANISM OF MIRROR REFLECTION

We know reflection without which we cannot even see our own face. Now let us explore the how and why of reflection.

The reflection obeys the law that "angle of incidence = angle of reflection ' (fig) why? The light ray coming from the source hits on the mirror and bounce back. For this process, the shortest and quickest path the ray can take leads to the law of reflection.

We see mirage in the hot summer on the roads. It is also a kind of reflection. Mirage appears because, the light ray takes quickest path to reach our eyes.
The brain always tells us about the position of the object using the path of light coming from it. In a mirror reflection, the light rays seems to be coming from backside of the mirror. Hence, we get the illusion that the objects are situated behind the mirror.

A convex mirror reflects a wide area infront of it. It also slows down the fast moving objects. Hence it is ideal for security guards to watch and monitor. When a car enters a high security area, "what is under the car" is found quickly using mirror reflection.
Parallel mirrors are found in the opposite walls of a beauty saloon. You can see many images of your face and head there. It is because multiple reflections takes place, resulting in infinite number of images. So this is the practical example of "infinity".

If the object and the image in the mirror looks exactly the same, the object is said have reflection symmetry. Our bodies may have mirror symmetry, but this written page do not, since left becomes right and right becomes left in the mirror.

A laser light pulse was sent to the moon, reflected by the moon's surface; returned to the earth; using the time of travel, the distance between the moon and the earth was accurately measured.

What we do is reflected back to us. If we are kind, people are kind to us. If we shower affection on the neighbours, we are showered with the same. The society just reflect us.

Comments

THE EARTH, A SUPER ORGANISM

JOIN MY COURSE: "Become a programmer in a day with python" A man called 'love lock' (what a name) proposed a theory called Gaia theory, named after Greek Goddess. It says, "Earth is a self-regulating organism like a human being. The organic life in it interacts with in-organic matter and maintains atmosphere, temperature and environment". Hence the earth is still suitable for the life to thrive. Imagine, in a particular place, there are lot of flowers. Some flowers are white and some are darkly coloured. We know, white reflects light and heat while dark absorbs the same. White flowers can thrive in hot climate. But dark flowers requires cold climate. The absorption and reflection balances and the environment reaches average, warm temperature at which both the flowers can co-exist. This is the essence of "Gaia" theory. On our earth, ...

THE PARABOLA

A jet of water shooting from a hose pipe will follow a parabolic path. What is the so special about parabola. Y= x^2 Draw a graph for the above equation. It will result in a parabola. This parabola is also called unit parabola. Any equation involving square will yield a parabola. Example: Y = 2x^2 +3x+3 (also called quadratic equation) X= 2 and -2, both satisfies the equation 4 = X^2. Parabolic equations always have two solutions. Any motion taking place freely under gravity follows parabolic path. Examples: An object dropped from a moving train, A bomb dropped from flying plane, A ball kicked upwards. If a beam of light rays fall on the parabolic shaped mirror, they will be reflected and brought to focus on a point. This fact is made use of in Dish Antenna, Telescope mirrors, etc. ...

DISORDER IS THE "ORDER OF THE DAY"

Imagine a balloon full of air. The air molecules are moving randomly inside the balloon. Let us pierce the balloon with a pin. The air rushes out. Why should not the air molecules stay inside the balloon safely and ignore the little hole? That is not the way the world works. The molecules always "want to occupy as many states as possible". Hence the air goes out in the open to occupy more volume. The things always goes into disorder (entropy) and the disorder increases with time. The above statement is what we call "second law of thermodynamics". Consider a cup of coffee on the table. Suppose the heat from entire room flows to your cup of coffee, the coffee will boil and the rest of the room will freeze. Freezing means bringing things to order and arrangement. It violates the second law. Hence it will never happen. Hence heat must flow from high ...

sciencecapsules

Search This Blog