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World Reflections
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Mechanisms of reflection
In the classical electrodynamics, light is considered as electromagnetic wave, which is governed by the Maxwell Equations. Light waves incident on a material induce small oscillations of polarisation in the individual atoms (or oscillation of electrons, in metals), causing each particle to radiate a small secondary wave (in all directions, like a dipole antenna). All these waves add up to give specular reflection and refraction, according to the Huygens-Fresnel principle.
In case of dielectric (glass), the electric field of the light acts on the electrons in the glass, the moving electrons generate a field and become a new radiator. The refraction light in the glass is the combined of the forward radiation of the electrons and the incident light and; the backward radiation is the one we see reflected from the surface of transparent materials, this radiation comes from everywhere in the glass, but it turns out that the total effect is equivalent to a reflection from the surface.
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