When a ray of light approaches a smooth polished surface and the light ray bounces back, it is called the reflection of light. The surface which reflects the light is called a reflecting surface. The ray of light approaching the reflecting surface is called the incident ray. The ray bounced back and moving away from the reflecting surface is called the reflected ray. Reflection is the change in the direction of a wave front at an interface between two different media so that the wave front returns into the medium from which it originated. Common examples include the reflection of light, sound and water waves. Reflection is when light bounces off an object. If the surface is smooth and shiny, like glass, water or polished metal, the light will reflect at the same angle as it hit the surface. It is called specular reflection. When rays of light strike a flat mirror, they are reflected, and the exiting ray of light is reflected at the same angle as the angle of incidence. The angles of incidence and reflection are measured from a normal to the plane of the mirror.
Refection of light involves some basic terms such as incident ray, point of incidence, reflected ray, normal, angle of incidence, angle of reflection, the plane of incidence, the plane of reflection which students would often come across while studying the chapter.