State the laws of reflection.

The laws of reflection are fundamental principles governing how light behaves when it interacts with a reflective surface.

1. First Law of Reflection: This law states that the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal (an imaginary line perpendicular to the surface) at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane. When light strikes a surface, it obeys this law by reflecting in a manner where these elements remain within a flat, two-dimensional plane.

2. Second Law of Reflection: According to this law, the angle of incidence, which is the angle between the incident ray and the normal, is equal to the angle of reflection, which is the angle between the reflected ray and the normal. This principle illustrates that when light reflects off a surface, the angle at which it strikes is equivalent to the angle at which it bounces off.

These laws form the basis of understanding how light interacts with surfaces, guiding the prediction of reflection angles and behaviors essential in various fields like optics and physics.