Which arrangement describes light bouncing off a surface without absorption?

Which arrangement describes light bouncing off a surface without absorption?

• A. Absorption
• B. Refraction
• C. Scattering
• D. Reflection

Answer: (D)

Light interacting with a surface can be reflected, refracted, absorbed, or scattered. The idea described is light bouncing off a surface instead of being taken in, which is reflection. On smooth surfaces like a mirror, light hits at one angle and bounces off at the same angle, letting you see your image. If the surface absorbed the light, there wouldn’t be a reflection; if light changed direction by entering a different material, that would be refraction; if it spread in many directions because the surface is rough, that would be scattering. So this arrangement describes reflection.

Light interacting with a surface can be reflected, refracted, absorbed, or scattered. The idea described is light bouncing off a surface instead of being taken in, which is reflection. On smooth surfaces like a mirror, light hits at one angle and bounces off at the same angle, letting you see your image. If the surface absorbed the light, there wouldn’t be a reflection; if light changed direction by entering a different material, that would be refraction; if it spread in many directions because the surface is rough, that would be scattering. So this arrangement describes reflection.