Answer to Question #340595 in Electricity and Magnetism for Jessa

Question

A beam of light incident on a plane mirror is at an angle of 32° relative to the normal. What is the angle between the refelected rays and the surface of the mirror?

Answer 1

Angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence, hence

$\theta_r=\theta_i=32^\circ$

The angle between the reflected rays and the surface of the mirror

$\beta=90^\circ-\theta_r\\ =90^\circ-32^\circ=58^\circ$