When light rays bounce off a completely smooth surface, such as a still pool of water, a mirror, or even something like a shop window, we are able to see a very clear reflection on the surface. Every ray of light is reflected perfectly from the surface and bounces back in a regular way. We can’t see anything without light. Our main source of light is the sun, but we have other light sources for when the sun isn’t shining, or if the weather is bad, or if it’s dark, or night time; like lamps, electric light, candles and flashlights. We see things when light rays bounce off them, or are reflected. Certain colored materials reflect better than others. White or light colors reflect much better than dark or black colors. Also, if the surface of the material (or object) is rough or bumpy, light doesn’t reflect as well as when it’s smooth and polished like a mirror. Mirrors have been used for thousands of years. First by polishing a volcanic rock called obsidian, which was glossy and black. Later the Greeks and Romans polished bronze to use as mirrors. Now we have mirrors made of glass, with a fine layer of silver coating on the back. This process called ‘silvering’ was invented by Justus Van Liebig – a German chemist in 1835. Flat mirrors reflect the image and it appears the same size and shape. Curved mirrors distort the image (try looking at yourself in the back of a spoon, then the front). When light reflects off of a bumpy surface the light will scatter and the reflected image will be distorted. The rippled surface of this lake creates a distorted image. If the surface is shiny like a mirror the light will hit it and bounce right back at the same angle that it entered. The image we see is clear and useful. We can brush our hair, check our teeth and smiles before we head to school. Rainbows: Can you explain this? Rainbows happen when sunlight and rain combine in a very specific way. The beams of sunlight separate into the colors we see in the rainbow as they enter a raindrop. Sunlight is actually made up of different colors that we don’t usually see. When a beam of sunlight comes down to Earth, the light is white. But, if the light beam happens to hit raindrops on the way down at a certain angle, the different colors that make up the beam separate so that we can see them — in the form of a rainbow. The angle for each color of a rainbow is different, because the colors slow down at different speeds when they enter the raindrop. The light exits the raindrop in one color, depending on the angle it came in, so we see only one color coming from each raindrop. Light at different angles coming through many raindrops form the rainbow that we see, in stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. These are my reflections about....reflection.
9 Comments
jenna
3/25/2017 02:02:36 pm
we know a lot about refleftion
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Emmalee
3/25/2017 07:49:14 pm
Awe! The puppy barking at his reflection is soooo CUTE!!
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Caden
3/26/2017 08:19:22 pm
cool
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Addie J
3/26/2017 11:31:08 pm
The blobfish is gross/cool!😝
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HALEY
3/27/2017 07:21:01 am
the dog is cute
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Zaya
3/27/2017 07:21:58 am
Ewww the blowfish 😧 Reflection is super cool!
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Tabi
3/27/2017 07:32:24 am
Barfing rainbows 😂
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Alivia✌
3/27/2017 07:33:47 am
That puppy is soooooooo cute🐕🐕🐕
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Mrs. TaylorI love science! Everything about the world is interesting and never boring. I love to study plants, animals, insects, and people. My favorite subjects are my students who are the most unique organisms on the planet! Categories |