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The fraction of the total light incident on a reflecting surface, especially a celestial body, which is reflected back in all directions. alloy A chemical mixture of a metal with one or more other metals or other elements. alpha decay. Also α-decay.
A symmetrical urn and its mirror image An example of how mirror flips text front to back rather than left to right. This cardboard word is reflected properly without being flipped. The concept of reflection can be extended to three-dimensional objects, including the inside parts, even if they are not transparent. The term then relates to ...
Fig. 1: Underwater plants in a fish tank, and their inverted images (top) formed by total internal reflection in the water–air surface. In physics, total internal reflection (TIR) is the phenomenon in which waves arriving at the interface (boundary) from one medium to another (e.g., from water to air) are not refracted into the second ("external") medium, but completely reflected back into ...
Reflection of light is either specular (mirror-like) or diffuse (retaining the energy, but losing the image) depending on the nature of the interface.In specular reflection the phase of the reflected waves depends on the choice of the origin of coordinates, but the relative phase between s and p (TE and TM) polarizations is fixed by the properties of the media and of the interface between them.
Non-electromagnetic waves can also exhibit specular reflection, as in acoustic mirrors which reflect sound, and atomic mirrors, which reflect neutral atoms. For the efficient reflection of atoms from a solid-state mirror, very cold atoms and/or grazing incidence are used in order to provide significant quantum reflection ; ridged mirrors are ...
Color is present when light strikes an object and is reflected back into the eye, a reaction to a hue arising in the optic nerve. [6] The first of the properties is hue, which is the distinguishable color, like red, blue or yellow. [6] The next property is value, meaning the lightness or darkness of the hue. [6]
For specular surfaces, such as glass or polished metal, reflectance is nearly zero at all angles except at the appropriate reflected angle; that is the same angle with respect to the surface normal in the plane of incidence, but on the opposing side. When the radiation is incident normal to the surface, it is reflected back into the same direction.
The word iridescence is derived in part from the Greek word ἶρις îris (gen. ἴριδος íridos), meaning rainbow, and is combined with the Latin suffix -escent, meaning "having a tendency toward". [1] Iris in turn derives from the goddess Iris of Greek mythology, who is the personification of the rainbow and acted as a messenger of the ...