Deflection (physics)

Deflection in physics is when something is pushed or pulled in a different direction than it was going before. Think of it like a ball that someone throws to you, but instead of catching it, you move your hand to the left or right to make the ball go in a different way. This change in direction is called deflection.

Deflection can happen to a lot of things besides balls, like a beam of light or sound waves. For example, if you shine a flashlight on a mirror, the light beam will bounce off the mirror and go in a different direction. This is deflection.

In some cases, deflection is caused by a force pushing or pulling on the object. For example, if you push on a door, it will move in the direction that you push it. But if you push on the side of the door instead of the middle, the door will move in a different direction because of the deflection caused by the force.

Deflection is an important concept in physics because it helps us understand how things move and interact with each other. By studying deflection, we can predict how objects will move and how forces will affect them.