Skip to content

Course home

Sign up

3.2.1a Reflection of light

EasyMedium
123456789101112131415
Question 13

A student is investigating the reflection of light by a plane mirror using a standard ray-tracing method. They draw a line representing the mirror surface and insert pins to track the incident and reflected rays.

a.

State the minimum recommended distance between two tracking pins (P1P_1P1​ and P2P_2P2​) placed along an incident ray, and explain the physical reason for keeping these pins far apart.

[2]
b.

The student wishes to investigate the relationship between the angle of incidence iii and the angle of reflection rrr. To obtain a reliable conclusion, they need to select a suitable range of angles. Suggest a series of five suitable values for the angle of incidence iii that they could use.

[2]
c.

Describe two experimental precautions that should be taken during this ray-tracing experiment to ensure that results are as accurate as possible.

[2]
d.

Explain one practical reason why the measured angle of reflection might not exactly equal the theoretically predicted angle of reflection, even when the experiment is carried out carefully.

[1]
Markscheme

3.2.1a Reflection of light Questions

  1. IGCSE
  2. /Physics
  3. /3.2.1a Reflection of light

48 exam-style questions on CIE IGCSE Physics 3.2.1a Reflection of light. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.

Question bank