However, when it’s above the horizon, its rays fall on the surface at a very shallow angle, and bounce off at the same small angle to reach the observer’s eyes, who is standing on the beach.įor another example of this effect, think of how a ball bounces on a smooth surface. When it’s high up, light rays fall straight down on the ocean making a large angle with the surface, so there’s no observable glitter. The other reason pertains to the sun’s position in the sky. This is due to the fact that when sunlight falls on the ocean’s surface, it’s reflected in all directions, but you see the illuminated line due to the light rays that are specifically entering your eyes. On the other hand, when light rays are reflected in multiple directions, then diffuse reflection has occurred.Īs you can probably guess, specular reflection occurs on plain surfaces, such as mirrors and still water, while diffuse reflection occurs on surfaces that are microscopically rough, including skin, clothes, paper and many other things that are part of our daily lives.Īnother interesting thing about these different images of the sun formed on the water’s surface is that they move along with the viewer. Specular reflection occurs when these light rays come from a single direction, fall on the surface and reflect off in a single outgoing direction. However, this is a very broad definition the reflection of light can also be classified in two smaller categories: specular reflection and diffuse reflection.Ī beam of light is nothing but a bundle of light rays traveling parallel to each other. When light falls on a smooth surface, it bounces off it and moves away in a different direction (provided that the light falls on the surface at an angle). You likely learned about the reflection of light in your high school Physics class.
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