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Light Reflection Lab: Law of Reflection on Flat & Curved Mirrors (2D)

2D optics lab: ray-traced law of reflection on a spherical mirror whose curvature morphs continuously between concave, flat and convex. Adjust beam angle, mirror curvature, mirror tilt and ray count while a live readout verifies angle-in equals angle-out and measures the real focal point and spherical aberration from the traced rays themselves.

Perception & Optical Illusions2DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

This 2D companion replaces the original's decorative Three.js ray fan with a real ray-traced optics bench: a spherical mirror built from the exact circle equation, four independent controls (beam angle, mirror curvature, mirror tilt, ray count), and a live readout that measures — from the traced rays themselves, not a lookup table — the angle of incidence, the angle of reflection, the focal length and the spherical aberration spread, so the law of reflection and the concave/convex focusing behaviour of spherical mirrors are directly verifiable instead of implied.

⚙ Under the hood

2D optics lab: ray-traced law of reflection on a spherical mirror whose curvature morphs continuously between concave, flat and convex, with a live readout verifying angle-in equals angle-out and measuring the real focal point and spherical aberration from the traced rays.

law of reflectionspherical mirrorfocal lengthspherical aberrationray tracingconcave convex mirror

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install