What does reflected light travel along?

Reflected light travels in straight lines.

Refraction occurs when light rays pass from one medium into another. When light hits the surface of an object, if the surface of the object is smooth, the light will be reflected. Reflected light refers to the light generated after the incident light is reflected on the surface of the object.

The propagation direction of reflected light can be described by two laws: the incident angle is equal to the reflection angle, and the incident light, reflected light and normal are on the same plane. The incident angle refers to the angle between the incident light ray and the normal line. The reflection angle refers to the angle between the reflected light ray and the normal line. The normal line is a straight line perpendicular to the surface of the object.

When light rays pass from one medium into another, the relationship between the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction can be described by Snell's law. Snell's law shows that the incident angle and refraction angle in the plane where the incident ray, refracted ray and normal line are located satisfy a mathematical relationship, that is, n1 sin θ1 = n2 sin θ2, where n1 and n2 are the refractive index of the two media respectively, and θ1 is the incident angle. , θ2 is the refraction angle. This law describes the direction of light propagation between two media.

The propagation direction of reflected light is relatively stable, that is, the light maintains the relationship between the incident angle and the reflection angle during the reflection process. This characteristic makes reflected light widely used in many fields, such as mirrors, reflectors, optical devices, etc. The propagation path of reflected light can be used to observe the shape, size and position of objects, and can also be used for measurement and detection.

The application of reflected light

In the field of photography, reflected light means that the light is not directly emitted by the light source and illuminates the scene, but the light is reflected once by props and then illuminated onto the subject. Usually the props used for reflection are not pure planes, but reflective plates that have been treated with special processes.

This allows the reflected light to obtain the effect of scattered light, that is, softened. Generally, reflected light is weaker than direct light but stronger than natural scattered light, which allows the subject to receive a softer light-receiving surface. Reflected light is most common in portrait photography under natural light, where the subject's back is facing the light source, and then a reflector is used to reflect the light on the person's face. In addition, reflected light is often used when photographing some products or still life.