Scholastic - Study Jams - Light Absorption, Reflection, & Refraction

Properties of Light Reflection
📌 When light hits smooth, shiny surfaces like water or metal, it is reflected or bounced off, creating a mirror image.
📐 Reflection follows the rule: angle of incidence equals angle of reflection.
💡 The angle of incidence is the angle at which light strikes a surface, and the angle of reflection is the angle at which it bounces off.

Factors Affecting Reflection and Color
🌈 When light hits a surface, some colors are absorbed while others are reflected; we only see the colors that are reflected (e.g., the red and yellow on the boat).
⚫ Rough surfaces diffuse light, sending it in many directions, unlike smooth surfaces that cause mirror reflection.

Light Refraction
💧 When light passes from one substance (like air) into another (like water), the light waves bend instead of being reflected; this phenomenon is called refraction.
🔎 Refraction causes objects—like the rope shown—to look bent at the point where the light transitions between the two substances.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ Reflection changes light direction off shiny surfaces where angle of incidence = angle of reflection.
➡️ Refraction is the bending of light as it passes from one substance to another, making objects appear distorted.
➡️ Understanding light absorption and reflection is key to taking better photographs by managing color and glare.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Feb 25, 2026, 07:14 UTC