POLARISATION

INTRODUCTION

• Polarization is a property of waves that describes

the orientation of their oscillations.
• Light, viewed classically, is a transverse
electromagnetic wave. Namely, the underlying
oscillation (in this case oscillating electric and
magnetic fields) is along directions perpendicular
to the direction of propagation. This is in contrast
to longitudinal waves, such as sound waves, in
which the oscillation is confined to the direction of
propagation. Light is said to be linearly polarized
if its oscillation is confined to one direction. Most
light sources in nature emit unpolarized light i.e.,
light consists of many waves trains whose
directions of oscillation are completely random.
 INDEX
Sr No. Topic Page
no.
1. Introduction 1
2. Aim 2
3. Principle 3
4. Diagram 4
5. Details 5
6. Analytical work 12
7. Applications 13
8. Bibliography 15
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my sincere thanks

to principal Mrs. Nirali Parekh for giving
me this opportunity to carry out the
experiments.
I would like to render my unwavering
gratitude to my physics teacher Mrs.
Chitra Praveen, for giving me all the
inputs required.
I would like to thanks all the lab
assistants for helping me in every step of
the experiments.
 AIM

▪ To study the relationship between

light intensity transmitted through
two polarizing filters and the angle
between the filter axes.

▪ The polarization of light affects the

focus of laser beams, influences the
cut-off wavelengths of filters, and
can be important to prevent
unwanted back reflections.
 PRINCIPLE
• Polarization is a general feature of
transverse waves in three dimensions. The
general electromagnetic plane wave has
two polarization states, corresponding to
the two directions that the electric field can
point transverse to the direction of the
wave’s motion. This gives rise to much
interesting physics.
• Light waves are transverse that is the
vibrating electric vector associated with
each wave is perpendicular to the direction
of propagation.
• The vibrating electrons then produce their
own electromagnetic wave that is radiated
outward in all directions.
DIAGRAM
 DETAILS ABOUT TOPIC
A light is an electromagnetic wave that travels
through the vacuum of outer space. light
waves are produced by vibrating electric
charges. It is sufficient to merely say that an
electromagnetic wave is a transverse wave
that has both an electric and a magnetic
component.
The transverse nature of an electromagnetic
wave is quite different from any other type of
wave. Let’s suppose that we use the customary
slinky to model the behavior of an
electromagnetic wave. As an electromagnetic
wave travelled towards you, then you would
observe the vibrations of the slinky occurring in
more than one plane of vibration. This is quite
different than what you might notice if you
were to look along a slinky and observe a
slinky wave travelling towards you. Indeed, the
coils of the slinky would be vibrating back and
forth as the slinky approached; yet these vibrations
would occur in a single plane of space. That is the
coils of the slinky might vibrate up and down or left
or right yet the regardless of their direction of
vibration, they would be moving along the same
linear directions as you sighted along the slinky. If a
slinky wave were an electromagnetic wave, then
vibrations of the slinky would occur in multiple
planes. Unlike a usual slinky wave, the electric and
magnetic vibrations of am electromagnetic
wave occur in numerous planes. A light wave is
vibrating in more than one plane is known as
unpolarized light.
POLARISATION is possible to transform
unpolarized light into polarized light. Polarized
light waves are light waves in which the
vibrations occur in a single plane. The process
of transforming unpolarized light into
polarized light is known as polarization. There
are a variety of methods of polarizing light.
The four methods discussed are:
• Polarization by transmission
• Polarization by reflection
• Polarization by refraction
• Polarization by scattering

POLARISATION BY USE OF A POLAROID FILTER

The most common method of polarization involves the
use of a polaroid filter. Polaroid filters are of a special
material that is capable of blocking one of the two
planes of vibration of an electromagnetic wave. In this
sense, a polaroid serves as a device that filters out one-
half of the vibrations upon transmission of the light
through the filter. When unpolarized light is transmitted
through a polaroid filter, it emerges with one-half the
intensity and with vibrations in a single plane; it emerges
as polarized light.

A polarizes filter is able to polarize light because of the

chemical composition of the filter material. The filter can
be thought of as having long-chain molecules that are
aligned within the filter in the same direction. The
alignment of these molecules gives extends across the
length of the filter a polarization axis. This polarization
axis extends across the length of the filter and only
allows vibrations of the electromagnetic wave that are
parallel to the axis to pass through.
POLARIZATION BY REFLECTION
Unpolarized light can also undergo polarization by
reflection off of nonmetallic surfaces. The extent to
which polarization occurs is dependent upon the
angle at which the light approaches the surface
and upon the material that the surface is made of.
Metallic surfaces reflect light with a variety of
vibrational directions; such reflected light is
unpolarized. However, nonmetallic surfaces such as
asphalt roadways, snowfields and water reflect
light such that there is a large concentration of
vibrations in a plane parallel to the reflecting
surface. A person viewing objects by means of light
reflected off of nonmetallic surfaces will often
perceive a glare if the extent of polarization is
large.

POLARIZATION OF REFRACTION
Polarization can also occur by the refraction of light.
Refraction occurs when a beam of light passes from one
material into another material. At the surface of the two
materials, the path of the beam changes its direction. The
reflected beam acquires some degree of polarization. Most
often, the polarization occurs in a plane perpendicular to
surface. Iceland spar, a rather rare form of the mineral calcite,
refracts incident light into two different paths. The light is spilt
into two beams upon entering the crystal. Subsequently, if an
object is viewed by looking through an Iceland spar crystal,
two images will be seen. The two images are the results of the
double refraction of light. Both refracted light beams are
polarized – one in a direction perpendicular to the surface.
Orientation, a polarizing filter can be used to completely block
one of the images.
 POLARIZATION BY SCATTERING
Polarization also occurs when light is scattered while traveling through
a medium. When light strikes the atoms of a material, it will often set
the electrons of those atoms into vibration. The vibrating electrons
then produce their own electromagnetic wave that is radiated
outward in all directions. This newly generated wave strikes
neighboring atoms, forcing their electrons into vibrations at the same
original frequency. These vibrating electrons produce another
electromagnetic wave that is once more radiated outward in all
directions. This absorption and reemission of light waves causes the
light to be scattered about the medium. This scattered light is partially
polarized. Polarization by scattering is observed as light passes through
our atmosphere. The scattered light often produced a glare in the
skies. The photographers know that this partial polarization of
scattered light leads to photographs characterized by a washed-out
sky. The problem can easily be corrected by the use of a polaroid filter.
As the filter is rotated, the partially polarized light is blocked and the
glare is reduced. The photographic secret of capturing a vivid blue sky
as the backdrop of a beautiful foreground lies in the physics of
polarization and polaroid filters.
 ANALYTICAL WORK
The formula of polarization can be derived from the law of Brewster’s
angle. This law establishes that the maximum polarization of a light
ray can be obtained by allowing that ray on a transparent material
surface so that the refracted ray forms a 90degree angle with the
reflected ray. Brewster’s law is used in modern lasers to make the
reflections at the laser cavity’s mirror surfaces produce linearly
polarized light.
• Brester’s angle can be expressed as the tangent inverse form of the
ratio between initial and final medium’s refractive index.
• It neither has any unit nor has any dimension.
• The angle is denoted by the symbol ‘θ’.

The mathematical form of the equation will be

tan θ = n2/n1
here ‘θ’ is the Brewster’s angle n1 is the refractive index of media 1 and n2 is the
refractive index of media 2.
 APPLICATIONS OF POLARIZATION

• Polarization has a wealth of others applications besides

their use in glare-reducing sunglasses. In industry,
polaroid filters are used to perform stress analysis tests on
transparent plastics. As light passes through a plastic,
each color of visible light is polarized with its own
orientation. If such a plastic is placed between two
polarizing plates, a colorful pattern is revealed. As the
top plate is turned, the color pattern changes are
transmitted. A common physics demonstration involves
placing a plastic protractor between two polaroid plates
and placing them on top of an overhead projector. It is
known that structural stress in plastic is signified at
locations where there is a large concentration of colored
bands. This location of stress is usually the location where
structural failure will most likely occur.
• Polarization is also used in the entertainment industry to
produce and show 3-D movies. Three-dimensional movies
are actually two movies being shown at the same time
through two projectors. The two movies are filmed from
two slightly different camera locations. Each individual
movie is the projected from different sides of the
audience onto a metal screen through a polarizing filter.
The polarizing filter used for the projector on the left may
have its polarization axis aligned horizontally while the
polarizing filter used for the projector on the right would
have its polarization axis aligned vertically. Consequently,
there are two slightly different movies being projected
onto a screen. Each movie is cast by the light that is
polarized with an orientation perpendicular to the other
movie. The audience then wear glasses that have two
polaroid filters. The result of this arrangement of
projectors and field id that the left eye sees the movie
that is projected from the left projector. This gives viewers
a perception of depth.

DIAGRAMS RELATED TO APPLICATIONS:

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/3polarisati
on/128360402
2. https://collegedunia.com/exams/polarization-
formula-physics-articleid-8453
3. Photos from google image