noun
- The branch of optics that deals with the properties and behavior of light reflected from mirrors and other reflective surfaces.
Usage: technical; used in physics and optics
Examples
- Catoptrics is essential to understanding how telescopes and microscopes use mirrors to magnify images.
- The ancient Greeks made early contributions to catoptrics by studying the behavior of light in polished metal surfaces.
- Modern catoptrics has applications in designing efficient lighting systems and optical instruments.
- Students of physics learn catoptrics alongside dioptrics, which deals with refraction through lenses.
- Catoptrics explains why a concave mirror can focus light to a single point.