1 Ask an adult to help you cut a 15 cm by 15 cm square from a piece of card. Cut a thin, vertical slot 5 cm long in the middle of one of the edges. This slot should be about 5 mm wide. 2 Use the sticking tack to stand the card upright on a table, with the slot at the bottom. 3 Turn the lights off in the room. 4 Shine the torch through the slot in the card to make a narrow beam of light appear at the opposite side of the card. Reflect the beam with the mirror. Move the mirror by turning it side to side. You can only see an object when light shines on it. The light bounces off the object, and enters your eyes and you can see it. When light bounces off an object, it is called reflection. When you take a look in the mirror, the light bounces your reflection right back at you. Your eyes catch this reflected light and that’s how you can see yourself. If objects didn’t reflect light then we wouldn't be able to see anything at all! In the experiment, as you move the mirror from side to side, you’ll see the direction of the light beam changes also. But the angles at which the beam hits the mirror, and then leaves it, are exactly the same. You have just proved that light rays bounce off a mirror at a matching angle.

You could try this experiment using black card or sandpaper instead of using a mirror. How well does the light reflect now? What does this tell you about how different surfaces and colours reflect light? Go back