Reflection: How light rays change direction at a mirror

Most of us use mirrors every day, and we all know what our images in a flat mirror look like: They are the same size we are, the same distance behind the mirror as we are in front of it, and left/right reversed. But how does this happen?

 

If you shine a laser beam onto a flat, or plane, mirror, you can see that the beam is reflected in a symmetric fashion: it leaves the mirror surface at the same angle it hit it. The interactive simulation on the next slide allows you to explore this principle for yourself.   

 

 

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