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GCSE Physics · key term
An imaginary line drawn at right angles to a surface at the point where a ray meets it.
Used by AQA, Edexcel and OCR
Specification 4.5.5.1.1, 4.6.1.3, 4.6.2.2 · Paper 2
At right angles, or perpendicular, to a surface.
Revise: Pressure in a fluid 1The force caused by fluid pressure acts normal to the surface: this means at right angles to it, rather than along it.
A line drawn at right angles to a boundary at the point where a ray meets it.
Specification 4.10, 5.1P, 5.2P, 5.9, 5.14 · Paper 1
An imaginary line drawn at right angles to a boundary where a wave meets it.
Revise: Refraction at BoundariesThe normal is an imaginary line at right angles to the boundary. We use it to describe which way the wave bends. A wave entering a material where it travels more slowly bends towards the normal.
An imaginary line drawn perpendicular to a surface at the point where a ray meets it.
An imaginary line perpendicular to a surface at the point where a ray meets it.
An imaginary line at 90° to a surface at the point where a ray meets it.
An imaginary line at right angles to a surface or boundary, used to describe the direction of a wave.
Specification P1.3i, P5.3b, P5.3c, P5.3d, PAG P8 · Paper 1 (Foundation), Paper 2 (Foundation), Paper 3 (Higher), Paper 4 (Higher)
At right angles to a surface.
An imaginary line drawn at right angles to a boundary where a wave meets it.
A line drawn at right angles to a surface at the point where a ray meets it.
An imaginary line drawn at 90° to a surface at the point where a ray meets it.
A line drawn at right angles to a surface where a wave or ray meets it.
Paper 1, Paper 2
An imaginary line drawn at right angles to a surface where a wave or ray meets it.
Revise: Reflection and Refraction of WavesA narrow beam of light reflected from a plane mirror makes the same angle with the normal as the incoming beam. The normal is a line at right angles to the mirror at the point where the beam strikes it. Because the reflected wave is still travelling in the original material, reflection itself does not change its speed, frequency or wavelength.
At right angles to a surface.
A line drawn at right angles to a surface at the point where a wave meets it.
Draw the normal at 90° to the surface where the ray strikes. Measure the angle of incidence and angle of reflection from the normal, not from the surface.
On a rough surface, rays scatter because the local normal changes from point to point. The law of reflection still applies at each point.
Measure angles between a ray and the normal, not between the ray and the boundary.
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