OPTI 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Geometrical Optics, Light Pillar

• School: University of Arizona
• Department: Optical Sciences
• Course: OPTI 200
• Professor: ALL

Document Summary

Angle of incidence is the angle between the normal and the incident ray. Law of reflection states that the two angles are equal. Law of reflection describes how a mirror forms images tells us about the direction of the reflected light. The amount of reflected light depends on the materials involved and on the angle at which the light hits the interface. There is enhanced reflection at grazing incidence. Reflection from crystals can create a sub sun and a sun pillar. Specular reflections come from a smooth surface. If a surface is rough we get a smeared out reflection. Light is reflected in many different directions from a smooth surface so it does not produce a mirror image, but just an overall brightness of the surface. Diffuse reflections reflected light goes in all directions. Reflections in parallel mirrors are not infinite. Corner reflectors reject any beam back in the direction it came from.