Sectieoverzicht

    • There are two types of reflection:

      • Regular reflection, also known as specular reflection
      • Irregular reflection, also known as diffuse reflection

    • Regular / specular reflection

      Regular, or specular reflection occurs when light rays bounce off a highly polished surface like a mirror. The reflected light is very clear and defined. Both the incident and reflected light rays are parallel. 
      Image: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY)




      The above lake image would appear very different if the water were choppy due to the wind. The resulting reflection would then be diffuse.


    • Irregular / diffuse reflection

      Diffuse reflection occurs when light rays strike an irregular, or rough surface resulting in the reflected rays being reflected in different directions. Since the reflected rays are not parallel the result is either no image, or a distorted image being formed. 


      The image below clearly illustrates diffuse reflection. The water is slightly choppy resulting in a blurry, ill-defined reflection.


      Image: HippoPx free photo (PD)

    • Did you know?


      Image: Raw Pixel (CC0)

      Do you know why the sky is blue?

      Sunlight contains many different colours ranging from blue to red. The blue light waves are shorter than the longer red waves. When sunlight enters the earth's atmosphere, the sunlight is scattered by the gas molecules which are present in the earth's atmosphere. Since the blue light waves are shorter than the red light waves, they are scattered more and in all directions resulting in a blue sky.