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Question
Explain why, though both a plane mirror and a sheet of paper reflect light but we can see the image of our face in a plane mirror but not in a sheet of paper.
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Solution
This is because there occurs regular reflection from a plane mirror, which has a smooth surface. Since the particles of the smooth surface are facing one direction, a beam of parallel light rays falling on it is reflected as a beam of parallel light rays in one direction only. These rays meet when produced backwards to form a virtual image of the light source.
However, in the case of a rough paper, a parallel beam of incident light is reflected in different directions (diffused reflection). So, the light rays don't meet to form an image of the object.
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