Explain the polarization of light by a thin plastic-like sheet.

Vedclass pdf generator app on play store
Vedclass iOS app on app store
(N/A) The phenomenon of obtaining plane-polarized light from unpolarized light is called polarization.
$A$ sheet that can produce polarized light from unpolarized light is called a polaroid.
Examples include thin plastic sheets and tourmaline plates.
$A$ polaroid consists of long-chain molecules aligned in a specific direction.
Electric field vectors oscillating along the direction of the aligned molecules are absorbed,while components oscillating in the perpendicular direction pass through. This perpendicular direction is called the pass axis of the polaroid. It allows components of light vectors parallel to the pass axis to pass through,while perpendicular components are absorbed. Consequently,the waves that emerge are linearly plane-polarized.
If light from an ordinary source passes through a single polaroid sheet $P_{1}$,its intensity is reduced by half. Rotating $P_{1}$ has no effect on the transmitted beam,and the transmitted intensity remains constant.
Now,let an identical piece of polaroid $P_{2}$ be placed before $P_{1}$. Rotating $P_{1}$ now causes the intensity of light emerging from $P_{1}$ to vary.
When the pass axes of $P_{2}$ and $P_{1}$ are parallel,the light vectors passing from $P_{2}$ also pass through $P_{1}$,resulting in maximum transmitted intensity.
When the $P_{1}$ sheet is rotated by $90^{\circ}$ relative to $P_{2}$,the intensity of light emerging from $P_{1}$ becomes zero. This is illustrated in the figure.

Explore More

Similar Questions

Polarised glass is used in sunglasses because

$A$ polarizer-analyser set is adjusted such that the intensity of light coming out of the analyser is $10 \%$ of the original intensity. Assuming that the polarizer-analyser set does not absorb any light,the angle by which the analyser needs to be rotated further to reduce the output intensity to zero is.....$^o$

Two polaroids $A$ and $B$ are placed in such a way that the pass-axis of polaroids are perpendicular to each other. Now,another polaroid $C$ is placed between $A$ and $B$ bisecting the angle between them. If the intensity of unpolarised light is $I_0$,then the intensity of transmitted light after passing through polaroid $B$ will be:

Two beams,$A$ and $B$,of plane polarized light with mutually perpendicular planes of polarization are seen through a polaroid. From the position when the beam $A$ has maximum intensity (and beam $B$ has zero intensity),a rotation of the polaroid through $30^{\circ}$ makes the two beams appear equally bright. If the initial intensities of the two beams are $I_A$ and $I_B$ respectively,then $\frac{I_A}{I_B} = $

$A$ beam of plane polarised light of large cross-sectional area and uniform intensity of $3.3 \, W m^{-2}$ falls normally on a polariser (cross-sectional area $3 \times 10^{-4} \, m^2$) which rotates about its axis with an angular speed of $31.4 \, rad/s$. The energy of light passing through the polariser per revolution is close to ........ $\times 10^{-4} \, J$.

Vedclass Products

For Students

Vedclass Test Series

Mock tests in real JEE/NEET style with performance analysis. 5-day free trial.

Start Free Trial
For Teachers

Exam Paper Generator

Generate Set A/B/C/D exam papers from 7.5L+ questions in 2 minutes. 3 chapters free.

Try Free
For Institutes

Online Exam Module

Live online exams with unlimited students, 360° analytics & white-label branding.

See Demo