The reflection tag has no wiki summary.
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25 views
Photo of reflection in magnifying mirror shows normal magnification. Why?
I just took a picture of myself in one of those magnifying shaving mirrors and in the photo I am unmagnified! Why is this?
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2answers
103 views
why does a mirror show what is in front of it?
the only answer I can think of is that light is reflected from the objects in front of the mirror (visible color) and then reflects again off of the mirror to our eye, but im not quite satified with ...
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2answers
151 views
Light Ray Reflection from concave mirror
Suppose a ray of light hits a concave mirror and is parallel to principle axis but far away from it such that it doesn't follow paraxial ray approximation. Will it pass through focus or between focus ...
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1answer
40 views
Reflection of a polarised beam
The past days I've been trying to understand how AutoFocus(AF) works on photographic cameras. There is a statement that says AF systems are polarisation sensitive. This means that they can only work ...
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1answer
40 views
Reflectivity of a glowing-hot metal surface
When a polished piece of metal (or steel in particular) is heated to incandescence, how do its reflective properties change?
Given a mirror-like surface, would the object temporarily cease to act ...
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2answers
52 views
Does more reflective aluminum foil make a room cooler compared to less reflective foil?
Aluminum foil is said to be not absorbing light at all.
It reflects light. So, does it mean that a more shiny aluminum foil will reflect more light and thus make the room more cooler as compared to ...
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3answers
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Phase shift of 180 degrees on reflection from optically denser medium
Can anyone please provide an intuitive explanation of why phase shift of 180 degrees occurs in the Electric Field of a EM wave,when reflected from an optically denser medium?
I tried searching for it ...
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1answer
68 views
What properties make a good barrier for microwave (oven) radiation?
Suppose I have plenty of food I want to heat (which will provide load) in the microwave, and one item I don't want to heat. What properties would make a material a a good shield, to reduce or prevent ...
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1answer
55 views
Confusing mirror problem
A piece of thin spherical shell that has a radius of curvature of 106 cm is silvered on both sides. The concave side of the piece forms a real image 79.5 cm from the mirror. The piece is then turned ...
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1answer
34 views
Can the choice of reflection angle for light can be derived from a minimality condition?
When the light hits on a surface, it reflects with the "same" angle as the one that hits the surface. I was wondering if this choice of angle can be explained by a minimality condition?
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0answers
47 views
Trigonometry in the plane mirror [closed]
I was trying to solve a problem taken from an Physics Olympiad when I came across a curious and complex mathematical expression. I can not prove with what I know so far about mathematics, does could ...
2
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1answer
50 views
Calculation the reflection coefficient of a mutlilayer material
For our project we have to study an infrared filter. This filter is composed of glass and several layers (nanolayers of titanium oxide, silver and cupper deposited on one side of the glass).
Now we ...
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2answers
116 views
How does this trick with mirrors work?
Imagine two mirrors, set touching each other at right angles to one another. There is a 90 degree arc in which reflections can be seen, and a person standing in that arc can see himself reflected in ...
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1answer
80 views
How to create visible reflections in shallow water?
Assumption: The only lights I have are candle, table lamp, and sunlight.
What would I need to create visible reflection of an object in the shallow water contained in a 5 liter bucket? Is it even ...
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0answers
23 views
Show that the plane of incidence is perpendicular to the surface of reflection
Is it possible to derive from the boundary conditions of the Maxwell equations for E and H, that the plane of incidence for an EM wave is perpendicular to the reflection surface? How? If not, what ...
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1answer
56 views
choosing the right color
Context: My room is being painted, and i sit and study in a corner of the room, surrounded by walls on 2 sides, such that i am facing the wall. A tube light is at my 4-5 o'clock, and a ...
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1answer
32 views
How much refraction occurs as a fraction of all reflection and refraction?
When light reaches a boundary between materials below the critical angle, some of it refracts and some of it reflects. For example, glass acts as a partial mirror with a dark background.
Assuming ...
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2answers
464 views
Distance of objects in car mirrors
We've all seen that label on our passenger side mirrors that says, "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear." Why is this? Further, why does it only apply to the passenger side mirror, and not ...
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0answers
22 views
Why the mirror changes the sides [duplicate]
Why the mirror changes the left with the right side but not the top with the bottom? Go to the mirror and check this out.
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1answer
39 views
hurdles in creating (close to) infinite images
Let's put an object(hypothetical superman) inside a "well sealed" box containing only mirrors. Is it possible to create number of images that will be close to infinity, assuming that resolution of our ...
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1answer
74 views
Seeing a mirage through mirror?
Okay, I am not really good in physics (rather terrible), but nonetheless.
So, I was just wondering if you can see a mirage, is there something special in our eyes that we can see it or what? I mean, ...
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2answers
74 views
All mirrors always shrink to 50% scale?
I have this geometric optics exercise here, in which a man is looking at himself in a mirror.
Determine the minimum height at which the bottom of the mirror must be placed so the man can see his ...
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0answers
42 views
Bragg reflected electrons
Could you explain how does bragg reflection happen for electrons? What does it mean that when they satisfy Laue condition? This already is asked in Physics SE. They are Bragg reflected in the opposite ...
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1answer
342 views
Two mirrors facing each other
I have a question that I would like answered.
What happens when you place two mirrors facing each other? Is it possible to have an infinite amount of reflections?
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2answers
162 views
Redirecting light beams from beam splitters
I'm doing a project where I am taking a laser beam and sending it through a beam splitter. As I understand, approximately 50% of the light will go pass through and 50% will be reflected. So this means ...
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1answer
3k views
Why does a window become a mirror at night?
In day, when you look in the room through the window out, you can clearly see what happens outside. At night when it's dark outside but there's light inside you can look in the window but it becomes a ...
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1answer
62 views
Ratio of distance between mirror and person
In perspective of a given example, if a man was to stand $2\ m$ away from a mirror which was $0.9\ m$ in height and was able to see his full reflection, what would the height of the mirror have to be ...
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4answers
451 views
Thought experiment regarding an object approaching a mirror
Here's a thought experiment I came up with in class today when my mind drifted (I however highly doubt I'm the first to think about this since it is pretty rudimentary) :
Let's say superman ...
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3answers
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Why can't my eye see itself in the mirror through polarizing 3D-glasses?
I found a pair of polarizing "3D glasses" lying around, and tried to look at myself in the mirror while wearing them.
To my utter confusion, when closing the left eye and only looking through the ...
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1answer
71 views
How does light get into a stable optical cavity in the first place?
It is supposedly possible to trap a beam of light bouncing back and fourth between two mirrors in a stable configuration. As I understand it, this means the configuration will prevent further spread ...
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1answer
50 views
How reflected objects are composed and who is responsible for that?
Please refer to this image. The scene contains an object close to a mirror in the wall and a window, note that the reflected object is receiving more light than the object itself.
I read some ...
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1answer
46 views
Reflected light from pulsars
If I point one telescope at a pulsar and record the image and then I point a second telescope at a mirror that has the image of the pulsar on it and record it, will the two recordings be different?
...
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0answers
93 views
Sum of intensity of reflected and transmitted waves
The given state:
Let $\psi$ be a wave that passes from medium $a$ to medium $b$.
Let $A$ be the amplitude of $\psi$.
Let $R$ be the amplitude ratio of the reflected wave $\psi_r$ and the original one, ...
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0answers
27 views
Run with speed of light with a mirror in hand [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Reflection At Speed of Light
Imagine you are able to run with the speed of light holding a mirror in your hand.
Now will you be able to see yourself in the mirror?
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4answers
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Does light accelerate or slow down during reflection?
After all, it does change direction when reflection occurs. So shouldn't it also accelerate? And since the acceleration cannot increase the speed of light, mustn't it slow down?
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2answers
338 views
Eliminating IR light reflection perceived by a steep viewing angle
I am having a problem with reflection on an acrylic surface, in the IR part of the spectrum. This reflection is interfering with an algorithm that looks at objects, as it makes two show up when only ...
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1answer
92 views
size and distance of mirror used in projected “smart” whiteboard
Apologies in advance for complete ignorance of optics (beyond conic sections)
How is the size, distance, and angle of the mirror used here calculated? The mirror is I believe the open flap in front ...
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0answers
51 views
Perimeter of Image of a Square
A concave mirror of focal length =10 cm is placed 15 cm from a square. The square lie on the principal axis i.e it's one side coincides with the principal axis. What is the perimeter of the image? How ...
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1answer
150 views
how to simulate wave interference [closed]
I need to simulate wave interference with reflection from surfaces.
What formulas I need to use?
What differential equation I need to solve? - Could someone help me out?
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1answer
103 views
How is it possible for an Ultrasound device to correctly interpret a negative density change in tissue?
I understand the principles of Ultrasound Imaging, and the mathematics behind sonar velocity, impedance, and reflection.
I also understand that an Ultrasound device recieves an echo produced by ...
3
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1answer
362 views
How does the aluminium foil do the thermal and WiFi isolation?
Aluminium foil is widely used for thermal isolation. As far as I know it reflects the thermal infrared radiation. Also I've seen a lot of guides about strengthening WiFi signal by putting the ...
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1answer
97 views
Colors in the secondary rainbow reverse of that in the primary rainbow
Why the colors of Secondary rainbow is reverse of that in the color in the Primary rainbow?
What can be the possible reason among the following options
Because it is formed by one internal ...
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0answers
40 views
How does a lens affect the field of view in a mirror?
If one looks into a mirror, he can see a certain field of view.
If he places a convex lens that magnifies (or a concave lens that does the opposite) in front of the mirror, but so that he can still ...
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1answer
216 views
Why does the spotlight reflected off of a rectangular mirror tend to become circular?
Background and setup
When I was 12 I used to like a girl, we were almost neighbors and it was essential that our parents don't find out. So whenever one of us wanted to call the other they'd signal ...
2
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1answer
71 views
Can small clouds reflect enough light to hurt your eyes/blind you?
I looked out my window a minute ago and immediately noticed a very bright spot where a cloud and a jet/plane trail met. The spot was so bright that I thought the sun was behind it because it left that ...
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2answers
2k views
Free Optics Simulation Programs
I'm having an extremely difficult time finding an optics program that is easy to use and offers accurate physics simulations. I'm not asking for much, I just want to be able to simulate a laser going ...
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2answers
2k views
How does reflection work?
In Newton's model of light as being composed of particles, it's easy to imagine reflection as being the rebounding of individual corpuscles off a surface. However, since light can also behave like a ...
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1answer
91 views
Refraction and Reflection Seismology
So I am wondering if I got the difference right. Both methods use explosives to send waves into the earth's surface. Now reflection seismology tries to get information from the reflected waves; the ...
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0answers
78 views
Reflection in Convex mirrors [closed]
A monkey starts chucking polished stainless bocce balls at you. The bocce balls are 6cm in radius. Where does your image form as a function of bocce balls distance and what is the size of your image ...
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1answer
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Special Relativity & Mirror Reflection
If you move at $5$ $ms^-$$^1$ towards a plane mirror, your reflection moves $10$ $ms^-$$^1$ towards you.
But what happens if you're moving much faster, say $0.8c$?
Would your reflection move at ...
