Reflected light

Description

Light reflected off the surface of a material. Reflected light is observed by placing a light source and detector, such as a camera or human eye, on the same side of a material. Shiny materials produce mirror-like, or specular reflections in which the Angle of reflection equals the incident angle. Matte material scatter light in diffuse reflections. Visually, reflected light can be used to detect surface morphology, gloss, and color. The quantity of reflected light is measured as the spectral reflectance, which is calculated as the ratio of the amount of reflected light to the amount of incident light at any given wavelength. It is plotted as a spectral reflectance curve.

Synonyms and Related Terms

reflektiertes Licht (Deut.); lumière réfléchie (Fr.); reflection; reflectance; reflectivity; spectral reflectance

Resources and Citations

• ASTM, Standard Terminology Relating to Natural and Artificial Weathering Tests of Nonmetallic Materials, Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Section 14, General Methods and Instrumentation, ASTM, G113, 1371-1373, Sep-94

• The Dictionary of Paper, American Paper Institute, New York, Fourth Edition, 1980

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000

• M.Derrick, D.Stulik, J.Landry, Infrared Spectroscopy in Conservation Science, in Scientific Tools for Conservation series, Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, 1999

• Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflectance (accessed Jan 6, 2006)