Ray tracing is a rendering technique that uses optical laws of reflection and refraction. Ray tracing follows an imaginary ray of light from a point of origin or observation through each point in a scene. When the ray encounters an object, it is traced as it is reflected or refracted. Each reflected or refracted ray is traced repeatedly until it vanishes into the background or makes an insignificant contribution. Radiosity is truer to real-life interactions of physical bodies with light: in it, objects are illuminated not only directly by a light source such as the Sun or a lamp but also more diffusely by reflected light from other objects. Radiosity models light as energy rather than rays and considers the effects of all the elements in a scene on the appearance of each object.
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