A P-ray reflects from an interface as both P- and S-rays. Compared to the angle of reflection of the P-wave, that of the S-wave is :
MH SET - 2020, SET Exam - 2020,
Answer: C
The angle of the reflected S-wave is always smaller.
At an interface, all reflected and refracted waves obey Snell's law with the same ray parameter p:
\[ \begin{aligned} \frac{\sin \theta_{P}}{V_{P}} &= \frac{\sin \theta_{S}}{V_{S}} \\ &= p \end{aligned} \]
Since \(V_{S}\) is always less than \(V_{P}\) in the same medium, \(\sin \theta_{S}\) is always less than \(\sin \theta_{P}\), so the converted S-wave reflects at a smaller angle (closer to the normal) than the reflected P-wave. Only at normal incidence are both angles zero, and there no S-wave is generated at all.
So the angles are never the same, never bigger and do not vary in sign.
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