What is the angle at which light reflects off a surface called?

• A. Angle of Incidence
• B. Normal
• C. Angle of Refraction
• D. Angle of Reflection

Answer: (D)

Light that bounces off a surface does so at a specific angle defined by the law of reflection: the angle of reflection. This is the angle formed between the reflected ray and the normal, which is a line drawn perpendicular to the surface. The corresponding incoming angle is the angle of incidence, measured between the incoming ray and the normal, and these two angles are equal when the light reflects in the same plane. The angle of refraction, by contrast, describes light that passes into a different medium and changes direction according to Snell’s law. So the term for the angle at which light reflects is the angle of reflection.