Polarization and Rayleigh Scattering Optics Lab

In this lab we explored the effects of polarizers on polarized light as well as the Rayleigh
scattering effects caused by the atmosphere. Using a clear vessel filled with a weak mixture of milk and
water (which simulated the earth’s atmosphere) placed on an overhead projector (which simulated the
sun) we were able to see how the atmosphere affects the sun’s rays. The light that passes through
(transmitted) the mixture is mostly redder wavelengths while the light that is scattered outward from
the vessel is mostly bluer wavelengths (Figure 1).

Figure 1

Viewing the light through a polarizer and rotating it shows that the no effect on the transmitted light,
and rotating the vessel also has no effect, meaning that this light is not polarized. But viewing the
scattered light through the polarizer and rotating it causes the light in the middle of the vessel to change
from light to dark every 90°. Next we placed a polarizer between the vessel and the projector glass, this
polarizes the light going into the vessel (Figure 2).

Figure 2
 Polarization and Rayleigh Scattering Optics Lab

We then viewed the transmitted light through another polarizer and rotated the polarizer and vessel
together. This resulted in a the light changing between light and dark every 90°, meaning that there
would be 2 maxima and 2 minima per revolution.

For the next part of the lab we explored the effects of viewing sunlight and reflections through a
polarizer. We found that most reflections can be dimmed or eliminated from view using a polarizer, but
it all depends on the angle of reflection. Sunlight straight above saw most effects from the polarizer
while light coming straight horizontally saw little to no effect. This shows that the sunlight seems to have
a preference to a horizontal oscillation. Next we took two polarizers and placed them on top of each
other but in orthogonal directions and placed a third between them at a 45° angle from each of the
others (Figure 3).

Figure 3

The polarization of the light that went through all three polarizers was exactly the same as the light
going in while light that only went through the orthogonal ones was gone. This can be explained
mathematically by the fact that if A (the effect of polarizer 1) and B (the effect of polarizer 2) are
orthogonal and C (the effect of polarizer 3) is at a 45° angle from each of them then A×B=C and C×C=0
meaning that all three have no effect.
 Polarization and Rayleigh Scattering Optics Lab

The next part of this experiment was to test Malus’ Law using two polarizers, a power meter, and a light
source (Figure 4).

Figure 4

This gave us the following data (Table 1):

Table 1
 Polarization and Rayleigh Scattering Optics Lab

Plotting this data gave us a sinusoidal wave with a doubled frequency and a 100° phase shift when
compared to the sine function (Figure 5).

Figure 5

Plotting this as a polar function gave a horizontal figure 8 pattern (Figure 6).

Figure 6

Polar Power of Light at Meter

90
70 80 100 110
60 120
50 1000 130
40 140
30 150
20 500 160
10 170

0 0 180

350 190
340 200
330 210
320 220
310 230
300 240
290 280 260 250
270

This shows that the power is indeed proportional to the square of the cosine of the angle between the
polarizers.
 Polarization and Rayleigh Scattering Optics Lab

The final part of this experiment was to explore the effects of birefringence on scattered light.
To show this we placed a transparency with writing on the overhead projector, we then placed a calcite
crystal on top of a letter. When we rotated the crystal we were able to see that it’s birefringence causes
two images of the letter to appear on the overhead screen. When we put a polarizer between the crystal
and the image we could see that only one of the images would appear. When the polarizer was rotated
90° we saw the other image, this shows that the two images are orthogonally polarized.

An article I found online that pertains to this lab is the “HowStuffWorks” article How Sunglasses
Work (http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/everyday-innovations/sunglass6.htm). On page 6
they mention how yellow tinted sunglasses are good for filtering out hazy light and glare. This is due to
the fact that blue light (which will be filtered out by a yellow lens) is very easily scattered which was
covered in the first part of our experiment. Later on page 7 they begin to talk about why polarized
sunglasses cut down on reflective glare. This is due to the fact that light that is reflected normally
becomes polarized horizontally (just as we claimed earlier in the experiment), so if you put a vertically
polarized lens in sunglasses all of that horizontally polarized glare would be filtered out.