Optics and parking cars

Optics and parking cars

In basic optics, there is a theorem known as the reciprocatory theorem. It simply tells us that a ray of light whenever encounters a normally reflecting surface (reflected perpendicular to the reflecting surface), it would exactly retrace its exact path to the origin of the source, irrespective of the number of reflections, refractions and media that were present in its path initially.

Parking cars in very small gaps were challenging to me and to take them out in reverse was even more challenging in Delhi sometimes. I learnt the knack of using this optics theorem to take out cars from the narrow parkings. I park the car and leave the steering untouched and undisturbed. Now while taking out the car from the narrow space where I have parked it in reverse, all I do is put the reverse gear and hold the steering in the state it was. No need to manoeuver, the car comes out exactly on the path in which it was parked, atleast the last cruve of the parked path is retraced identically.



-HE