Understanding Reflection and Refraction

Reflection and refraction are important ideas when we talk about waves.

Reflection is what happens when waves bounce off a surface.

For example, when you look in a mirror, light waves hit the mirror and bounce back to your eyes. This is how you can see your own image!

Refraction is a bit different. It happens when waves change direction as they move from one material to another.

A good example is when light passes into water. You might notice that a straw looks bent when it’s in a glass of water. That bending effect is called refraction!

There's a rule called Snell's Law that helps explain refraction.

It says that if you know how light travels in one material, you can figure out how it will travel in another.

In simpler terms, when light enters a new medium, it changes direction based on certain angles.

These two ideas, reflection and refraction, help us understand how waves behave around us every day!