JEE Advance - Physics (2013 - Paper 1 Offline - No. 13)
A ray of light travelling in the direction $${1 \over 2}\left( {\widehat i + \sqrt 3 \widehat j} \right)$$ is incident on a plane mirror. After reflection, it travels along the direction $${1 \over 2}\left( {\widehat i - \sqrt 3 \widehat j} \right)$$. The angle of incidence is
30$$^\circ$$
45$$^\circ$$
60$$^\circ$$
75$$^\circ$$
Explanation
Let $${\widehat v_i} = {1 \over 2}\left( {\widehat i + \sqrt 3 \widehat j} \right)$$ and $${\widehat v_r} = {1 \over 2}\left( {\widehat i - \sqrt 3 \widehat j} \right)$$ be the unit vectors along the incident and the reflected rays. From Snell's law, angle of incidence (say $$\theta$$) is equal to the angle of reflection. Thus, angle between $$ - {\widehat v_i}$$ and $${\widehat v_r}$$ is 2$$\theta$$.
Using, dot products of vectors, we get
$$\cos (2\theta ) = - {\widehat v_i}\,.\,{\widehat v_r} = 1/2$$.
Hence, $$\theta = 30^\circ $$.
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