heijastusgeometria

Heijastusgeometria refers to the study of how light reflects off surfaces. This branch of optics deals with the geometrical properties of light rays and their interactions with mirrors and other reflective materials. Key principles include the law of reflection, which states that the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection, and that the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the surface at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane.

This understanding is fundamental to various applications, from the design of telescopes and periscopes to the development of optical instruments like cameras and microscopes. Heijastusgeometria helps predict the path of light after it bounces off a surface, enabling the creation of precise optical systems. It explains phenomena such as the formation of images in plane, concave, and convex mirrors. For plane mirrors, virtual, upright, and laterally inverted images are formed at the same distance behind the mirror as the object is in front. Concave mirrors can form both real and virtual images depending on the object's position, while convex mirrors always form virtual, diminished, and upright images. The mathematical tools used often involve trigonometry and basic algebra to trace these light paths.