EJMT Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the problem on how light rays are reflected inside a given ellipse by using technology tools. We first solve the problem in a quite general setting with GeoGebra and next we investigate some particular cases by means of the computer algebra systems Maxima and Maple®. We study several cases through some computer programs done with these CASs, with the purpose of answering questions about the periodicity of the light trajectories generated by the successive reflections of a beam of light on the ellipse.