State three methods of polarizing an unpolarized light

Assessment: WAEC SSCE - Physics - 2011 (Essay) Subject: Physics

Question 1 Report

State three methods of polarizing an unpolarized light

Answer Details

Three methods of polarizing an unpolarized beam of light are:

  1. Polarization by reflection - when ordinary light is reflected from a transparent surface (for example water or glass) at the polarizing (Brewster) angle, the reflected light becomes plane polarized.
  2. Polarization by selective absorption (using a polaroid/dichroic material) - a polaroid sheet transmits vibrations in only one plane and absorbs those in all other planes, producing plane polarized light.
  3. Polarization by double refraction (using a doubly-refracting crystal such as calcite/Nicol prism) - the crystal splits the light into two plane polarized rays vibrating in mutually perpendicular planes.

(Polarization by scattering, as occurs with sunlight in the atmosphere, is also acceptable.)

Read lesson note on Structure Of The Nucleus (WAEC)
View Answer

Related Questions

1

State: (a) the difference between plane polarized light and ordinary light; (b) two uses of polaroids.
2

(a). State: (a) two applications of electrolysis in an industry (b) one application of electrolysis in a school laboratory.
3

A stone projected horizontally from the top of a tower with a speed of 4 ms\(^{-1}\) lands on the level ground at a horizontal distance of 25 m from the foot...
4

In fig. la and fig.1 b above, Ida and Wb represent the respective loads on a spring placedtiear a 30 cm rule, when in air and when in water: (a) Identify the...
5

(a) Explain diffusion. (b) Give one reason why the rate of diffusion is higher in gases than in liquids at the same temperature.
6

The uncertainty in determining the duration during which an electron remains in a particular energy level before returning to the ground state is 2.0 x 10\(^...
7

Explain why water in a narrow glass tube has a concave meniscus while mercury, in the same tube, has a convex meniscus.
8

An electron of charge 1.60 x 10\(^{-19}\) C is accelerated under a potential difference of 1.0 x 10\(^5\) V. Calculate the energy of the electron in joules.

Download The App On Google Playstore

Everything you need to excel in your exams

Green Bridge CBT Mobile App
Personalized AI Learning Chat Assistant
200,000+ Exam Questions Across IGCSE, JAMB, WAEC & NECO
Over 3,900 Lesson Notes
Offline Support - Learn Anytime, Anywhere
Green Bridge Timetable
Literature Summaries & Potential Questions
Track Your Performance & Progress
In-depth Explanations for Comprehensive Learning