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If I recall my physics correctly, and it was a long time ago, when a photon strikes a reflecting surface that specific photon is not what is reflected--rather the photon excites an electron which ejects a new photon. My question is how does the new photon know it has to come out at the angle of incidence?

Qmechanic
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user10000
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    Possible duplicates: http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/83105/2451 and links therein. – Qmechanic Feb 17 '14 at 23:07
  • Imagining a light wave as a hail of photons is a poor description. The photons in a light wave are delocalised and have no well defined position. The classical description of a light wave is a far better description when considering reflection. – John Rennie Feb 18 '14 at 10:07
  • I had looked to see if this question had been addressed but didn't find it. The link provided in 1 answered my question. Thanks. – user10000 Feb 18 '14 at 21:07

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