NCERT Solutions for Class 7th Science Chapter 11 Light: Shadows and Reflections

Updated on 2026-09-19

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Objects that give out their own light — the Sun, stars, lightning, fire, fireflies, a lit bulb — are luminous . Objects that only send back the light falling on them, such as the Moon , a mirror, Mars or Venus, are non-luminous . Light travels in a straight line. The matchbox activity (three holes in a line), the straight-versus-bent pipe and the laser beam in milky water all point to the same conclusion. Light passes almost completely through transparent materials, partly through translucent materials, and not at all through opaque materials. A shadow is the dark patch formed where an object blocks light. Three things are needed — a source of light, an opaque object and a screen. The shadow shows only the outline; changing the colour of the object never changes the colour of its shadow. A

Chapter opening
.2 Does Light Travel in a Straight Line?
.4 Shadow Formation
.5 Reflection of Light
.6 Images Formed in a Plane Mirror
.7 Pinhole Camera
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Term	What it means	Example from the chapter	Point to remember
Luminous object	An object that emits its own light	Sun, Pole Star, lightning, firefly, LED lamp	The Moon is not luminous
Non-luminous object	An object that does not emit light of its own	Moon, mirror, Mars, Venus, a book	It is seen by the light it reflects
Transparent	Light passes almost completely through it	Clear glass, water	You can see through it clearly
Translucent	Light passes partly through it	Tracing paper, thin cloth, frosted glass	Makes a lighter, blurred shadow
Opaque	Light does not pass through it	Cardboard, thick cloth, a steel plate	Makes the darkest shadow
Shadow	Dark patch formed where an opaque object blocks light	Your shadow on the ground in the Sun	Needs source + object + screen
Reflection of light	The change in direction of light by a mirror	Sunlight thrown on a shaded wall by a steel plate (Fig. 11.8)	Light still travels in straight lines
Plane mirror	A flat, not curved, mirror	The mirror you comb your hair in	Image: same size, erect, virtual
Lateral inversion	Left of the object appears as right in the image	AMBULANCE written in reverse on vans	Letters T, O, A, M look unchanged
Pinhole camera	A box in which light through a tiny hole forms an image	Candle flame image in Fig. 11.12	The image is upside down
Periscope	Z-shaped box with two plane mirrors	Used in submarines, tanks, bunkers	Lets you see what is hidden
Kaleidoscope	Tube with three mirror strips and coloured bits	Fig. 11.15	Reflections of reflections make patterns

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NCERT Solutions for Class 7th Science Chapter 11 Light: Shadows and Reflections

About this chapter

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