Reflecting

Reflecting is the act of turning back light, sound, or other waves from a surface, or of turning attention inward to consider a matter. It encompasses physical phenomena as well as cognitive and technical processes.

In physics and related fields, reflection describes the change in direction of a wavefront at an interface, such that the incident and reflected waves satisfy the law of reflection: the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection (measured from the normal). Specular reflection occurs on smooth surfaces, producing a clear image, while diffuse reflection from rough surfaces scatters light in many directions. Common examples include light from a mirror and echoes from a wall.

In geometry, a reflection is a symmetry operation that produces a mirror image across a line in two dimensions or a plane in three dimensions; reflected figures preserve distances and angles relative to the line or plane. This operation is a fundamental type of isometry and is used to describe mirror transformations in various applications.

In cognition, reflecting refers to purposeful consideration of one’s beliefs, values, or experiences, often to deepen understanding or inform decision making. Self-reflection is a common technique in education, psychology, and mindfulness practices.

In computing, reflection is a programming capability that allows a program to inspect and possibly modify its own structure and behavior at runtime. This enables dynamic type checks, method invocation, and access to metadata, supporting flexible and adaptive software systems.