State three methods of polirizing… | Physics

Question 1 Report

State three methods of polirizing an unpolarized light

Answer

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Unpolarized light (in which the vibrations occur in all planes perpendicular to the direction of travel) can be polarized by the following methods:

Selective absorption (using a Polaroid): passing the light through a Polaroid sheet, which transmits vibrations in only one plane and absorbs those in all other planes.
Reflection: light reflected from a smooth non-metallic surface (such as glass or water) at the polarizing (Brewster) angle becomes plane polarized.
Double refraction (using a crystal): passing the light through a doubly refracting crystal such as calcite or tourmaline (or a Nicol prism), which splits it into two plane-polarized rays.

(Scattering, for example by dust or air molecules, also produces partially polarized light.)

State three methods of polirizing an unpolarized light