Angle of incidence

Description

When a ray of light strikes a surface, the angle between its path and a line that is perpendicular to the surface it called the angle of incidence. Thus, light that is directly perpendicular to an object has an angle of incidence of zero.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Einfallswinkel (Deut.); angle d'incidence (Fr.);

Authority

• Random House, Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Walter C. McCrone, John Gustave Delly, Walter C. McCrone, John Gustave Delly, The Particle Atlas, W. McCrone Associates, Chicago, IV, 1972

• Matte Paint: Its history and technology, analysis, properties and conservation treatment, Eric Hansen, Sue Walston, Mitchell Bishop (ed.), J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, Vol. 30 of AATA, 1993