English

Reflection from a moving mirror - a simple derivation using the photon model of light

Classical Physics 2012-11-30 v2

Abstract

We present an elementary analysis of the effects on light reflected from a uniformly moving mirror by using the photon picture of light and the conservation laws for energy and momentum of the system photon-mirror. Such a dynamical approach to the problem seems very suitable for introductory physics courses, not requiring any previous knowledge in wave optics or special relativity.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1207.0998,
  title  = {Reflection from a moving mirror - a simple derivation using the photon model of light},
  author = {Aleksandar Gjurchinovski},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1207.0998},
  year   = {2012}
}

Comments

4 pages, 1 figure, LaTeX, v2: a slight error in the derivation corrected

R2 v1 2026-06-21T21:30:27.206Z