Learn how light travels and what reflection is.
Welcome to the Grand Light Stream Derby.
Any moment now…
Yes!
We're off!
The light waves are instantly streaming away at an incredible speed!
The amazing thing is that they will carry on going forever.
Unless they bump into something.
But there's certainly plenty for them to bump into here.
And here comes the first obstacle.
It's a mirror!
Shouldn't be a problem.
A mirror is very reflective, that means of course that the light, just bounces straight off it and there they go!
What a bounce!
They've all just bounced straight off!No problems there, but they're coming up to the next obstacle it's a black wall!
Definitely a black wall!
The colour black is not very reflective.
I think this is going to be more tricky!
Oh and there it goes!
A lot of them have been absorbed!
They're gone!
Some have bounced off and kept going, but there are not so many left now!
But of course they're not slowing down and they're not stopping.
That's just not what light does.
It looks like they're approaching something else.
And they've gone!
Unbelievable!
They have gone into that eye and I think…that's it…they're not coming back.
Reflection
When light from an object is reflected by a surface, it changes direction. It bounces off the surface at the same angle as it hits it.
Smooth, shiny surfaces such as mirrors and polished metals reflect light well. Dull and dark surfaces such as dark fabrics do not reflect light well.
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