Diagram of specular reflection

Reflections on water are an example of specular reflection.

Specular reflection is the perfect, mirror-like reflection of light (or sometimes other kinds of wave) from a surface, in which light from a single incoming direction (a ray) is reflected into a single outgoing direction. Such behavior is described by the law of reflection, which states that the direction of incoming light (the incident ray), and the direction of outgoing light reflected (the reflected ray) make the same angle with respect to the surface normal, thus the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection; this is commonly stated as θ_i = θ_r. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1712x2304, 1740 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Shanghai Specular reflection Chinese garden Yuyuan Gardens Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1712x2304, 1740 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Shanghai Specular reflection Chinese garden Yuyuan Gardens Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from... This article is about wave reflectors (mainly, specular reflection of visible light). ... The reflection of a bridge in Indianapolis, Indianas Central Canal. ... Surface waves in water This article is about waves in the most general scientific sense. ... A surface normal, or just normal to a flat surface is a three-dimensional vector which is perpendicular to that surface. ...

This is in contrast to diffuse reflection, where incoming light is reflected in a broad range of directions. The most familiar example of the distinction between specular and diffuse reflection would be glossy and matte paints. While both exhibit a combination of specular and diffuse reflection, matte paints have a higher proportion of diffuse reflection and glossy paints have a greater proportion of specular reflection. Very highly polished surfaces, such as high quality mirrors, can exhibit almost perfect specular reflection. Diagram of diffuse reflection Diffuse reflection is the reflection of light from an uneven or granular surface such that an incident ray is seemingly reflected at a number of angles. ... Gloss is an optical property, which is based on the interaction of light with physical characteristics of a surface. ... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ... For other uses, see Paint (disambiguation). ...

Even when a surface exhibits only specular reflection with no diffuse reflection, not all of the light is necessarily reflected. Some of the light may be absorbed by the materials. Additionally, depending on the type of material behind the surface, some of the light may be transmitted through the surface. For most interfaces between materials, the fraction of the light that is reflected increases with increasing angle of incidence θ_i. If the light is propagating in a material with a higher index of refraction than the material whose surface it strikes, then total internal reflection may occur (if the angle of incidence is greater than a certain critical angle). Specular reflection from a dielectric such as water can affect polarization and at Brewster's angle reflected light is completely linearly polarized parallel to the interface. Absorption, in optics, is the process by which the energy of a photon is taken up by another entity, for example, by an atom whose valence electrons make a transition between two electronic energy levels. ... The refractive index of a material is the factor by which electromagnetic radiation is slowed down (relative to vacuum) when it travels inside the material. ... Critical angle redirects here. ... A dielectric is a nonconducting substance, i. ... In electrodynamics, polarization (also spelled polarisation) is the property of electromagnetic waves, such as light, that describes the direction of their transverse electric field. ... An illustration of the polarization of light which is incident on an interface at Brewsters angle. ...

The law of reflection arises from diffraction of a plane wave (with small wavelength) on a flat boundary: when the boundary size is much larger than the wavelength then electrons of the boundary are seen oscillating exactly in phase only from one direction—the specular direction. If a mirror becomes very small (comparable to the wavelength), the law of reflection no longer holds and the behaviour of light is more complicated. The intensity pattern formed on a screen by diffraction from a square aperture Diffraction refers to various phenomena associated with wave propagation, such as the bending, spreading and interference of waves passing by an object or aperture that disrupts the wave. ... For other uses, see Wavelength (disambiguation). ...

Usually, the term specular reflection refers to visible light; however the term is also widely used for other electromagnetic waves. The specular reflection of non-electromagnetic waves follows basically the same laws. Acoustical mirrors—and even atomic mirrors—exist which provide the specular reflection of neutral atoms. For the efficient reflection of atoms from a solid-state mirror, very cold atoms and/or grazing incidence are used in order to provide significant quantum reflection; ridged mirrors are used to enhance the specular reflection of atoms. The optical spectrum (light or visible spectrum) is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye. ... Electromagnetic radiation or EM radiation is a combination (cross product) of oscillating electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to each other, moving through space as a wave, effectively transporting energy and momentum. ... In physics, the atomic mirror is a device which reflects neutral atoms in the similar way as the conventional mirror reflects the visible light. ... Properties For alternative meanings see atom (disambiguation). ... Solid state may refer to: In computing: Solid state devices are data storage device components that uses memory chips, such as SDRAMs, to store data. ... Fig. ... Quantum reflection is physical phenomenon of reflection of matter waves from attractive potential. ... // In atomic physics, a ridged mirror (or ridged atomic mirror, or Fresnel diffraction mirror) is a kind of atomic mirror, designed for the specular reflection of neutral particles (atoms) coming at the grazing incidence angle, characterised in the following: in order to reduce the mean attraction of particles to the...

The inclusion of specular reflection in dentistry helps improve the aesthetic quality of an inlay, onlay or filling, allowing the appearance of the material 'flowing' in with the natural dentition.

See also

• Mirror, a device designed for specular reflection
• Atomic mirror, a device for specular reflection of atoms
• Reflection coefficient
• Fresnel equations which describe the behavior of light when moving between media of differing refractive indices.
• Geometric optics