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In one of my test papers at school, we had a true-false question which said "Irregular reflection can form an image." I marked it true, however I was not given any marks for the question.

I asked my teacher about it, he told me that the "lights scatter and do not form images." I was not satisfied with this explanation so I Googled for it; I found only a Wikipedia page about diffused reflection useful.

According to my knowledge, an image is an intersection of reflected or refracted light rays. So in the image about irregular reflection, I find intersection of reflected light rays.

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ I think your teacher is right, because the reflection is irregular. Irregular means not organised in any way. $\endgroup$
    – Metalbeard
    Commented Dec 18, 2014 at 7:21
  • $\begingroup$ @Aziraphale Well the answer explains it all. $\endgroup$
    – AadityaCool
    Commented Dec 18, 2014 at 16:30
  • $\begingroup$ @Kyle Kanos Thanks for editing, actually i am not able to format the stack exchange questions because i am new to it however i am trying $\endgroup$
    – AadityaCool
    Commented Dec 18, 2014 at 16:33

2 Answers 2

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Simply because two light rays intersect at a point it does not mean that an image is formed.

enter image description here

You need millions (not necessarily, but a lot) of light rays to intersect at a point to form an image. enter image description here

The reason is that the intensity of light emerging from a two-ray intersection is too less for any human eye to detect. For an image formed due to a concave mirror, however, the intensity is clearly much more, allowing the eye to detect the image:

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ it means that I should get marks for my answer because image would be forming.@Simha $\endgroup$
    – AadityaCool
    Commented Dec 18, 2014 at 17:12
  • $\begingroup$ @AadityaCool I'm sorry, I missed the "not" while typing in the first line. Take a look at the edited answer. Gosh, one word makes a big difference ! $\endgroup$
    – Gaurav
    Commented Dec 18, 2014 at 17:29
  • $\begingroup$ Great you told me, For the time being i felt yeah i m right. Yes one word made a big difference $\endgroup$
    – AadityaCool
    Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 2:37
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Actually your teacher is correct. The Wikipedia page says that irregular reflection makes that particular surface visible in observer's eye but does not form image of an object in front of it.

While regular surfaces can't make themselves visible to the observer they form image of an object in front of them...

I hope I got your doubt right and my answer helps.....

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