The ray (torch beam) is reflected off the shiny surface of the mirror at an angle. It doesn't retrace its path unless the ray hits the mirror at 90 degrees. It is known as the angle of reflection. A bouncing ball shows the same effect.
Back up the indecent beam path.
-- Light has to shine on the object, and some of it has to reflect off of the object. -- Some of the reflected light has to make it to the mirror. There can't be any physical obstruction in the path. -- The mirror has to be clean enough so that some of the light hitting the mirror is reflected away from it. -- Your eye has to be on the path taken by the light after it reflects from the mirror.
Because the center of curvature is defined to be in the direction of the normal. remember that a reflecting angle of light, relative to the normal, equals minus the angle of the beam that hit the mirror, relative to the normal. since the center of curviture is in the direction of the normal. A beam going through it would be with an angle of zero, and there for return with an angel of (minus) zero. In other words it comes back in the same direction.
It reflects out through the focus.
The beam of light is reflected back directly along its original path. I assume you are asking what happens if the light beam is exactly perpendicular to the plane of the mirror. I am assuming we aren't getting into such things as quantum mechanics where the answer to the question could be a bit freaky depending on the ideal nature of the conditions.
The light ray passing from the centre of curvature is perpendicular or normal to the the sphere of which the concave mirror is a part . because the ray from centre to mirror will act as the radius and we know that radius is perpendicular to the tangent at the point of contact. hence angle of incidence = 0 degree , so angle of refraction will also be 0 degree , hence the ray will retrace its path .Read more: Why_light_ray_retrace_its_path_when_passes_through_centre_of_curvature_of_a_concave_mirror
Back up the indecent beam path.
-- Light has to shine on the object, and some of it has to reflect off of the object. -- Some of the reflected light has to make it to the mirror. There can't be any physical obstruction in the path. -- The mirror has to be clean enough so that some of the light hitting the mirror is reflected away from it. -- Your eye has to be on the path taken by the light after it reflects from the mirror.
Because the center of curvature is defined to be in the direction of the normal. remember that a reflecting angle of light, relative to the normal, equals minus the angle of the beam that hit the mirror, relative to the normal. since the center of curviture is in the direction of the normal. A beam going through it would be with an angle of zero, and there for return with an angel of (minus) zero. In other words it comes back in the same direction.
mirror the actual path of the network
use a mirror to change the path of light.
A plane old mess!
cog
nagagator
The 'boarding gate' .
A mirror maze is a maze where the walls are mirrors. They are a challenge because the mirrors make it hard to what the path through the maze.
It reflects out through the focus.