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Level 1 - Prince
Area of focus: The Law of Reflection
Topics covered:
> Surface normal
> Angle of incidence
> Angle of reflection
> The Law of Reflection
3. Summary
Area of focus: The Law of Reflection
Topics covered:
• Surface normal
• Angle of incidence
• Angle of reflection
• The Law of Reflection
Suggested time to complete (2 hrs):
• Teaching material (20 minutes)
• Practice activity (40 minutes)
• Final project (60 minutes)
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4. Surface Normal
A surface normal to a flat surface is a vector
that is perpendicular to that surface.
normal
The dotted line is perpendicular
to the flat surface.
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5. Angle of Incidence
The angle of incidence θi of a ray is the angle
measured from the ray to the surface normal.
normal
θi
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6. Angle of Reflection
The angle of reflection θr of a ray is the angle
measured from the reflected ray to the surface normal.
normal
θr
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7. The Law of Reflection
When a ray of light reflects off a surface,
the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
θi = θr
normal
θi θr
The Law of Reflection describes a property of light; however, we can use the Law of Reflection to
estimate the direction of our shots in games such as miniature golf and billiards if we assume that the
there is no spin and the shot is at a low to medium strength.
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8. Practice Activity
Correctly draw and label the shot path to get
a hole-in-one from the “X”. Be sure to use a
protractor to correctly measure and label all
angles.
Bonus points if you can find 2 unique paths to
the hole.
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9. Final Project
Requirements
Design and label a miniature golf hole that includes:
• the shot path to get a hole-in-one using the Law of Reflection
For full points, be sure to:
• label all angles along the shot path
• draw and label the surface normal for each angle of incidence
and angle of reflection along the shot path
• use a protractor to accurately measure all angles
• be creative!
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10. Grading Rubric
Bogey Par Birdie
(70% - 79%) (80% - 89%) (90% - 100%)
• Student shot path follows the • Student shot path follows the
• Student shot path does not Law of Reflection; however, Law of Reflection and is
Shot Path follow the Law of Reflection student has made a calculation accurately calculated from tee
error box to hole
• Student incorrectly labeled • Student correctly labeled all
more than one angle • Student incorrectly labeled an angles
Labels • Student incorrectly labeled the angle or a surface normal • Student correctly labeled the
surface normals surface normals
• Miniature golf hole design is • Miniature golf hole design is
playable and aesthetically
plain and simple • Miniature golf hole design is pleasing
• Student lines and angles are playable
Design sloppy or incorrectly labeled • Student lines and angles are • Student lines and angles are
neatly drawn and labeled
• Miniature golf hole design neatly drawn and labeled
• Miniature golf hole design is
does not exhibit creativity
creative and original
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