Garbage Golf (Physics)
For the physics portion of this project, the whole class got into groups of four or five to build mini-golf courses associated with physics concepts. My group consisted of Erik Jarvis, Josh Breton, and Mary Mendoza. My group decided to use optics, and the Law of Reflection as our physics topic.
The Law of Reflection is, quite simply, how light affects the world. The incident ray is the name for a ray of light approaching a smooth reflective surface. The reflected ray is the ray of light that leaves the smooth reflective surface. There is a point of the smooth reflective surface where both the incidence ray and the reflective ray meets. If you were to create a line that hits that point and is perpendicular to the smooth reflective surface, that line would be called a normal. If you try to see a normal you won’t see the line, as it is only imaginary. Unless you were to try to create one, that is, possibly using string or something of the sort. The angle between the incidence ray and the normal is called the angle of incidence, while the angle between the reflected ray and the normal is called the angle of reflection. The law of reflection states that the the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection are equivalent. The law of reflection also states the incidence ray, the reflected ray, and the normal all exist on the same plane, meaning they could be on the same two-dimensional plane. It should be noted that if the reflective surface was not smooth they light rays would cause a diffuse reflection, a reflection that makes the reflected rays go in all different kinds of directions.
The Law of Reflection is, quite simply, how light affects the world. The incident ray is the name for a ray of light approaching a smooth reflective surface. The reflected ray is the ray of light that leaves the smooth reflective surface. There is a point of the smooth reflective surface where both the incidence ray and the reflective ray meets. If you were to create a line that hits that point and is perpendicular to the smooth reflective surface, that line would be called a normal. If you try to see a normal you won’t see the line, as it is only imaginary. Unless you were to try to create one, that is, possibly using string or something of the sort. The angle between the incidence ray and the normal is called the angle of incidence, while the angle between the reflected ray and the normal is called the angle of reflection. The law of reflection states that the the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection are equivalent. The law of reflection also states the incidence ray, the reflected ray, and the normal all exist on the same plane, meaning they could be on the same two-dimensional plane. It should be noted that if the reflective surface was not smooth they light rays would cause a diffuse reflection, a reflection that makes the reflected rays go in all different kinds of directions.
The law of reflection also applies to concave mirrors. Concave mirrors are parabolic mirrors that are reflective on the inside, and the surface is going in if you look at the mirror. A good way to remember is to think about the inside of a cave, if caves were reflective and made of glass. Parabolic mirrors are mirrors that are in the shape of a parabola, meaning they have a non-spherical curve. “Now the normal is drawn perpendicular to the mirror at the point of incidence, which is where the ray strikes the surface of the mirror.” says ThinkQuest.org. The concave mirror has a vertex that you can draw a perpendicular line called a principle axis. All light rays parallel to the principle axis will reflect off the mirror and hit the focal point. The focal point, also known as the focus, is a point where all lines parallel to the principle axis meet. “Also, any ray that goes through the focal point will be reflected off the mirror and become parallel to the principle axis.” says ThinkQuest.org. Also, there is also a length called the focal length of the mirror, which is the length from the vertex to the focal point. (From my group's Physics presentation about optics)
For my golf course, my group decided to use a variation of the picture shown to the left. We had a concave mirror that the light rays, or golf balls, bounced off of. At any point that a light ray hit the mirror, it bounced into the focal point, or the hole. The start of the course was facing the back of the mirror, and made a U shape to get to the mirror. Each turn had a straight mirror in the corner that deflected the golf ball at a 90 degree angle, making it possible to get a hole in one.