Reflection : Practice Questions

A light ray strikes a plane mirror. If the angle between the incident ray and the reflected ray is \(50^\circ\), what is the angle of incidence?

A person whose total height is \(1.6 \text{ m}\) stands upright in front of a vertical plane mirror. The person's eyes are located \(0.1 \text{ m}\) below the top of their head.

What is the minimum vertical length of the plane mirror required for the person to see their entire image (from the top of their head to their toes), and where must the top edge of the mirror be positioned?

A man is 180 cm tall, and his eyes are 10 cm below the top of his head. He stands in front of a vertical plane mirror. What is the minimum height of the mirror required for him to see from the very top of his head to his feet, and what is the height of the top edge of the mirror from the floor?

A ray of light strikes a plane mirror. If the angle between the incident ray and the reflected ray is measured to be exactly \(70^\circ\), what is the angle between the reflected ray and the mirror surface?

Which of the following sets of surfaces would most likely produce specular reflection rather than diffuse reflection?

i. A highly polished stainless steel plate.
ii. A piece of white notebook paper.
iii. The surface of a calm, still pond.
iv. A clear glass window with a thin layer of dust.

If a light ray strikes a plane mirror at an angle of incidence of $$30^\circ$$, what is the angle of reflection?

A physics student observes their reflection starting at a distance of 3.5 m from a plane mirror. If the student moves 0.8 m closer to the mirror, what will be the resulting distance between the student and their image?

Two plane mirrors are joined at an angle of \(110^\circ\). A light ray strikes the first mirror at an angle of incidence of \(30^\circ\), reflects, and subsequently strikes the second mirror. Calculate the angle of reflection at the second mirror.

A person stands in front of a plane mirror.

a) List two characteristics of the image formed by the plane mirror.
b) If the person raises their right hand, which hand does their image appear to raise? What is the scientific term for this phenomenon?

Imagine you have a room with a light source, but there's a dark corner that the light source cannot directly reach. You want to use a plane mirror to illuminate this dark corner.

a) Describe how you would position a single plane mirror to reflect light from the source into the dark corner. Your description should refer to the angle of incidence and angle of reflection.
b) Draw a ray diagram to show the path of a single light ray from the light source, reflecting off the mirror, and reaching the dark corner. Clearly label the incident ray, reflected ray, mirror, normal, and the angles of incidence ($$i$$) and reflection ($$r$$).
c) If the mirror is then tilted slightly, how would the position of the illuminated spot in the dark corner change? Explain your answer.