A ray can be defined as a line with an endpoint that extends in one direction to infinity or a sequence of points with one point of origin that extends infinitely in one direction. The length of the ray cannot be measured as it has one end that is non-terminating. In simple words, a ray can be defined as a union of a line and a line segment. A ray can be represented by a straight line that has an endpoint and an arrowhead. The fixed part of the ray is described by the endpoint, while the part of the ray extending to infinity is represented by the arrowhead. The name of the ray is specified in capital letters, where the first letter of the name denotes the fixed point and the second letter of the name describes the infinitely extending portion of the line that the ray passes through. For instance, a ray AB has A as a fixed point and B as the extending point of the ray.
Examples of Ray
Some of the most common examples of ray in real life are listed below:
1. Sun Rays
The light radiations obtained from the sun or the sun rays tend to form a classic example of rays in real life.
2. Player Hitting a Ball
A player playing tennis, cricket, baseball, volleyball, handball, and other related sports tends to hit the ball with his/her hand or the game object in a particular direction. As a result, the ball begins to move in the direction of the force applied by the player following a particular path. This path followed by the ball forms yet another example of a ray in real life as it has one endpoint and can extend in the other direction to infinity.
3. Arrow
An arrow tends to form a prominent example of rays in real life. When an archer launches an arrow in the forwarding direction, the arrow tends to trace a path that resembles the geometric shape of a ray. The endpoint or the point of origin of such a ray is present near the bow, while
4. Flashlight
The light radiations emitted by a flashlight in the surroundings originate from the source of light, i.e., the bulb present in the flashlight structure and moves along a straight line in a particular direction to infinity. The path of the light from the origination point extending towards infinity can be considered a prominent example of a ray in real life.
5. Projector
A projector is a gadget or a device that transmits visual information from the inner circuitry of the projector through the lens of the device into the surroundings in the form of light radiations, thereby forming another example of rays in our daily life.
6. Motion of a Bullet
When a bullet gets fired from a gun, its path of motion can be traced easily with the help of a ray that originates from the chamber of the gun and goes up to infinity till the bullet strikes a rigid obstacle or loses energy eventually due to air resistance and other factors. Similarly, the perfect representation of a ray can be observed when the bullet is fired in a vacuum environment as in the case of an air-less environment, the bullet does not lose energy and tends to move along a straight line to infinity.
7. Electromagnetic Radiations
The path of motion followed by almost all electromagnetic waves and radiations such as X-rays, gamma rays, microwaves, infrared radiations, ultraviolet light radiations, radio waves, etc. tend to form an impression in space that resembles the ray geometric shape.
8. Vision
The ability of the eyes by virtue of which a living being is capable of visualising the shape, size, colour, and other visible physical attributes of an object are known as vision. The vision of a living being primarily originates from the eyes and extends up to infinity, hence vision tends to form yet another example of a ray in real life.
9. Throw Sports
A number of throw sports such as javelin throw, shotput throw, discuss throw, etc. tend to form a perfect example of rays in real life. This is because if you closely monitor the path traced by such game objects from the origin point of the throw to a point in the air, you can easily picturise the ray geometric shape.
10. Axis
An axis is an imaginary reference point line that is mainly used to measure coordinate points located in space. Mainly, there are three-axis lines called x, y, and z that are present perpendicular to each other in every measuring system. Each axis line represents a ray as there exists a point of origin for each axis line and each line extends up to infinity. Here, the endpoint or the common point of origin of the rays or axis is called the origin.
11. Spray Bottle
When you spray water in the surroundings with the help of a spray bottle, you can easily trace the path taken by the water droplets to travel from the opening of the spray bottle into the surroundings. The water droplets usually tend to travel along a straight line due to the high pressure, hence the path taken by water from the spray bottle is one of the best examples of a ray geometric figure in real life.
12. Electric Current
The electric current that usually gets produced in a powerhouse and gets coupled to domestic, industrial, and commercial applications with the help of electric wires. The current travels between the powerhouse or power source to the destination due to the motion of electrons between the source and destination. Here, the electrons tend to originate from the source and move along a straight line to infinity, thereby forming a classic example of a ray in real life.
13. Antenna
In the case of a line of sight propagation of information, the energy or the signal transmitted by the antenna in the environment usually follows a linear path of propagation. This indicates that the signal originates from a source point and moves in the environment along a straight line, thereby forming a ray geometric figure in real life.
14. Fans
There are some of the fans that tend to direct the flow of air in a particular direction. This means that the motion of the air molecules takes place from the source or the origin point of the fan and extends up to infinity, thereby forming a ray of wind.
15. Reflected light
When the light radiations fall on a shiny surface, it tends to reflect and bounce back. For instance, when you strike a ray of light on the surface of mirror, it gets reflected back. The motion of the reflected ray originates from the surface of mirror and extends upto infinity along a straight line in the surroundings and forms a classic example of ray in real life
16. LASER Light
The LASER or light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation light devices are the sources of light radiations that are highly directional and focused in nature. The light radiations or the photons emitted by a laser light source tend to move along a straight line from the source to a point located at infinitely far position in the surroundings. This means that a LASER light is yet another example of ray in real life.