Light: Reflection and Refraction
Medium - Material through which a wave travels
Absorption - The process or action by which one thing absorbs or is absorbed by
another.
Transmission - The passage of light through an object.
Transparent - All light passes through and objects can be clearly seen.
Translucent - Some light passes through, but it is scattered and spread out so that
objects cannot be seen clearly.
Opaque - Stops the passage of light and an object cannot be seen.
Reflection - The bouncing back of a wave when it hits a surface through which it
cannot pass.
Incident Ray - The ray that comes from an object and strikes a surface.
Reflected Ray - The light ray that bounces off a surface
Normal - A line perpendicular to the surface where the light ray strikes the surface
Angle of Incidence - The angle between the incident ray and the normal
Angle of Reflection - The angle between the reflected ray and the normal
Law of Reflection - the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection
Smooth surface - Reflected light rays travel in the same direction as incident rays.
Rough surface - Reflected light rays scatter in all directions.
Refraction - The bending of light as it passed from one medium (substance) into
another.
