katiebigarel
"The Different Perspectives of Physics" by Katie Bigarel
Katie Bigarel
Natural
“The Different Perspectives of Physics”
This photo was taken outside a building at the Historical Glencoe Mills in Burlington, NC on a snowy day in March. Although it is hard to believe, the glass window is giving us two perspectives! Half of the window is a reflection of the snowy outdoor scenery and half of the window is a transparent view of the inside of the old mill building. This physics phenomenon is actually a result of the incidence angles (angle at which light is hitting the surface of the window) coming from the light ray s of the sun are hitting the surface of the window. You might wonder why you are able to see through only half of the window. This is due to a particular angle of incidence known as Brewster’s angle. Brewster’s angle is the angle of incidence in which a light ray is perfectly transmitted through a surface. When light moves to a surface with a different index of refraction at a certain angle of incidence, the light cannot be reflected. On the other side of the photo however; specular reflection is occurring due to the planar quality of the mirror and the angle of incidence that is equal to the angle of reflection. This is the law of reflection and is creating a virtual image. A virtual image an image in which the outgoing rays from a point on the object never actually intersect at a point.
"The Different Perspectives of Physics" by Katie Bigarel
Katie Bigarel
Natural
“The Different Perspectives of Physics”
This photo was taken outside a building at the Historical Glencoe Mills in Burlington, NC on a snowy day in March. Although it is hard to believe, the glass window is giving us two perspectives! Half of the window is a reflection of the snowy outdoor scenery and half of the window is a transparent view of the inside of the old mill building. This physics phenomenon is actually a result of the incidence angles (angle at which light is hitting the surface of the window) coming from the light ray s of the sun are hitting the surface of the window. You might wonder why you are able to see through only half of the window. This is due to a particular angle of incidence known as Brewster’s angle. Brewster’s angle is the angle of incidence in which a light ray is perfectly transmitted through a surface. When light moves to a surface with a different index of refraction at a certain angle of incidence, the light cannot be reflected. On the other side of the photo however; specular reflection is occurring due to the planar quality of the mirror and the angle of incidence that is equal to the angle of reflection. This is the law of reflection and is creating a virtual image. A virtual image an image in which the outgoing rays from a point on the object never actually intersect at a point.