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An incident ray is a ray of light that hits a surface in physics. Learn how to use this term in different contexts, such as reflection, refraction, and corner reflectors, with examples and translations.
- English (US)
incident ray. noun [ C ] physics specialized us / ˈɪn.sɪ.d ə...
- English (US)
An incident ray is a ray of light that strikes a surface. The angle between this ray and the perpendicular or normal to the surface is the angle of incidence. The reflected ray corresponding to a given incident ray, is the ray that represents the light reflected by the surface.
Learn about the laws of reflection and refraction, the index of refraction, and the speed of light. Find out how light changes direction and color when it passes through different media.
The incoming ray is called the incident ray and the outgoing ray the refracted ray, and the associated angles the incident angle and the refracted angle. The law of refraction is also called Snell’s law after the Dutch mathematician Willebrord Snell (1591–1626), who discovered it in 1621.
The incident ray is the path that a light ray takes as it strikes a surface or interface between two different mediums. It is the initial ray of light that encounters the reflecting surface before it is reflected.
Figure 31.1 shows a ray of light, called the incident ray, striking a plane mirror at O, and making an angle i with the normal, which is a line drawn at right angles to the mirror at O. i is called the angle of incidence.
An incident ray is a ray of light that hits a surface in physics. Learn how to use this term in sentences and compare it with reflected ray, and see translations in different languages.
