ray In optics, a ray represents the direction of travel of a wavefront and is perpendicular to the wavefront. It is a useful representation of the direction of energy flow and helps form the basis of ray tracing in geometric optics. Related MicroscopyU Article Geometrical Construction of Ray Diagrams A popular method of representing a train of propagating light waves involves the application of geometrical optics to determine the size and location of images formed by a lens or multi-lens system. This tutorial explores how two representative light rays can establish the parameters of an imaging scenario.