Angle of Incidence Equals Angle of Reflection

Have students conduct the exercises as described in the text. In interpreting their results they may need repeated reminders that what they see is the result of light rays traveling (reflected) from the object(s) to their eyes. If those rays “bounce” off a mirror on the way to the eye, they will be perceived as lying through and beyond the mirror. Comparing the angle at which light from the object hits the plane of the mirror, with the angle from the plane of the mirror to the eye, they should find the angles are equal. Technically, stated: the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection.  This is shown in the following video: