Polarization of light

- light is an electromagnetic radiation of wavelength visible to the human eye

-is characterised by the vectors of electric field intensity E and magnetic field intensity B
(they are perpendicular to each other and also on the direction of propagation of light)
-is a transverse wave – a wave where the direction of oscillation is perpendicular to the
direction in which the wave travel

Most light sources emit light that is unpolarized – the vector of E has all possible directions of
vibrations

Polarized light – the vector of E oscillates only in one plane

Polarization is a property applying to transverse waves that specifies the geometrical
orientation of the oscillations.
The methods of producing polarized light:
The light can be polarized by polaroids (polarizing filters), by reflection, by refraction, by
double refraction,
Polarization by POLAROID
-polaroid is a type of synthetic plastic sheet which is used to polarized the light
- is used as polarizer
Polarization by reflection and refraction

If light strikes an interface so that there is a 90o angle between the reflected and refracted rays,
the reflected light will be linearly polarized. The direction of polarization (the way the electric
field vectors point)is parallel to the plane of the interface. The special angle of incidence that
produces a 90o angle between the reflected and refracted ray is called the Brewster angle, qp.

Polarization of light by double refraction

- an optical property in which a single ray of unpolarized light entering an anisotropic

medium is split into two rays, each traveling in a different direction. One ray (called
the extraordinary ray) is bent, or refracted, at an angle as it travels through the
medium; the other ray (called the ordinary ray) passes through the medium unchanged
- Double refraction can be observed by comparing two materials, glass and calcite
 - https://slideplayer.com/slide/5885272/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUvX_AYGRDo
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxJGm2QeX1g
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_C8KyU67RU
- https://www.facebook.com/telketv/videos/k%C3%BAzeln%C3%A1-fyzika-
optika/445691743146427/