They are the angles made by the incident ray and the reflected ray with the line perpendicular to the reflecting surface at the point of reflection.
Chat with our AI personalities
When talking about reflection (normally with light), one works out the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection by drawing a line that is perpendicular (90 degrees) to the reflector and measuring the angle between this line and the ray of incidence/reflection. This line is called the normal line. It is easier to measure the angles of incidence and reflection on a flat surface, because it is easier to draw an accurate normal line.
Set up a light source that has narrow beam (a laser pointer is perfect for this).Point it at a mirror,measure the angle of incidence and of reflection.rotate the mirror,measure the angles,continue through many angles,tabulate and graph the results.
Not usually. (Only when the angle is 45 degrees.)"The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection."
The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
The angle of incidence and reflection are reference to of a line normal or perpendicular to a surface. The incidence angle is the incoming ray angle relative to the normal line and the reflection is the outgoing angle relative to the normal line. Both angles are in the plane containing the normal line and the incidence ray.