3/2/2017 Polarization

LightWavesandColorLesson1HowDoWeKnowLightisaWave?

Polarization
WavelikeBehaviorsofLight
TwoPointSourceInterference
ThinFilmInterference
Polarization

Alightwaveisanelectromagneticwavethattravelsthroughthevacuumofouterspace.Lightwaves
areproducedbyvibratingelectriccharges.Thenatureofsuchelectromagneticwavesisbeyondthe
scopeofThePhysicsClassroomTutorial.Forourpurposes,itissufficienttomerelysaythatan
electromagneticwaveisatransversewavethathasbothanelectricandamagneticcomponent.
Thetransversenatureofanelectromagneticwaveisquitedifferentfromanyother
typeofwavethathasbeendiscussedinThePhysicsClassroomTutorial.Let's
supposethatweusethecustomaryslinkytomodelthebehaviorofan
electromagneticwave.Asanelectromagneticwavetraveledtowardsyou,thenyou
wouldobservethevibrationsoftheslinkyoccurringinmorethanoneplaneof
vibration.Thisisquitedifferentthanwhatyoumightnoticeifyouweretolook
alongaslinkyandobserveaslinkywavetravelingtowardsyou.Indeed,thecoils
oftheslinkywouldbevibratingbackandforthastheslinkyapproachedyetthese
vibrationswouldoccurinasingleplaneofspace.Thatis,thecoilsoftheslinky
mightvibrateupanddownorleftandright.Yetregardlessoftheirdirectionof
vibration,theywouldbemovingalongthesamelineardirectionasyousighted
alongtheslinky.Ifaslinkywavewereanelectromagneticwave,thenthe
vibrationsoftheslinkywouldoccurinmultipleplanes.Unlikeausualslinkywave,
theelectricandmagneticvibrationsofanelectromagneticwaveoccurin
numerousplanes.Alightwavethatisvibratinginmorethanoneplaneisreferred
toasunpolarizedlight.Lightemittedbythesun,byalampintheclassroom,or
byacandleflameisunpolarizedlight.Suchlightwavesarecreatedbyelectricchargesthatvibrateina
varietyofdirections,thuscreatinganelectromagneticwavethatvibratesinavarietyofdirections.This
conceptofunpolarizedlightisratherdifficulttovisualize.Ingeneral,itishelpfultopictureunpolarized
lightasawavethathasanaverageofhalfitsvibrationsinahorizontalplaneandhalfofitsvibrationsin
averticalplane.
Itispossibletotransformunpolarizedlightintopolarizedlight.Polarizedlightwavesarelightwaves
inwhichthevibrationsoccurinasingleplane.Theprocessoftransformingunpolarizedlightinto
polarizedlightisknownaspolarization.Thereareavarietyofmethodsofpolarizinglight.Thefour
methodsdiscussedonthispageare:
PolarizationbyTransmission
PolarizationbyReflection
PolarizationbyRefraction
PolarizationbyScattering

PolarizationbyUseofaPolaroidFilter
ThemostcommonmethodofpolarizationinvolvestheuseofaPolaroidfilter.Polaroidfiltersare
madeofaspecialmaterialthatiscapableofblockingoneofthetwoplanesofvibrationofan
electromagneticwave.(Remember,thenotionoftwoplanesordirectionsofvibrationismerelya
simplificationthathelpsustovisualizethewavelikenatureoftheelectromagneticwave.)Inthissense,
aPolaroidservesasadevicethatfiltersoutonehalfofthevibrationsupontransmissionofthelight
throughthefilter.WhenunpolarizedlightistransmittedthroughaPolaroidfilter,itemergeswithone
halftheintensityandwithvibrationsinasingleplaneitemergesaspolarizedlight.
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/light/Lesson1/Polarization 1/4
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APolaroidfilterisabletopolarizelightbecauseofthechemicalcompositionofthefiltermaterial.The
filtercanbethoughtofashavinglongchainmoleculesthatarealignedwithinthefilterinthesame
direction.Duringthefabricationofthefilter,thelongchainmoleculesarestretchedacrossthefilterso
thateachmoleculeis(asmuchaspossible)alignedinsaytheverticaldirection.Asunpolarizedlight
strikesthefilter,theportionofthewavesvibratingintheverticaldirectionareabsorbedbythefilter.
Thegeneralruleisthattheelectromagneticvibrationsthatareinadirectionparalleltothealignmentof
themoleculesareabsorbed.
Thealignmentofthesemoleculesgivesthefilterapolarizationaxis.Thispolarizationaxisextends
acrossthelengthofthefilterandonlyallowsvibrationsoftheelectromagneticwavethatareparallelto
theaxistopassthrough.Anyvibrationsthatareperpendiculartothepolarizationaxisareblockedby
thefilter.Thus,aPolaroidfilterwithitslongchainmoleculesalignedhorizontallywillhaveapolarization
axisalignedvertically.Suchafilterwillblockallhorizontalvibrationsandallowtheverticalvibrationsto
betransmitted(seediagramabove).Ontheotherhand,aPolaroidfilterwithitslongchainmolecules
alignedverticallywillhaveapolarizationaxisalignedhorizontallythisfilterwillblockallvertical
vibrationsandallowthehorizontalvibrationstobetransmitted.

PolarizationoflightbyuseofaPolaroidfilterisoftendemonstratedinaPhysicsclassthroughavariety
ofdemonstrations.Filtersareusedtolookthroughandviewobjects.Thefilterdoesnotdistortthe
shapeordimensionsoftheobjectitmerelyservestoproduceadimmerimageoftheobjectsinceone
halfofthelightisblockedasitpassedthroughthefilter.Apairoffiltersisoftenplacedbacktobackin
ordertoviewobjectslookingthroughtwofilters.Byslowlyrotatingthesecondfilter,anorientationcan
befoundinwhichallthelightfromanobjectisblockedandtheobjectcannolongerbeseenwhen
viewedthroughtwofilters.Whathappened?Inthisdemonstration,thelightwaspolarizedupon
passagethroughthefirstfilterperhapsonlyverticalvibrationswereabletopassthrough.These
verticalvibrationswerethenblockedbythesecondfiltersinceitspolarizationfilterisalignedina
horizontaldirection.Whileyouareunabletoseetheaxesonthefilter,youwillknowwhentheaxesare
alignedperpendiculartoeachotherbecausewiththisorientation,alllightisblocked.Sobyuseoftwo
filters,onecancompletelyblockallofthelightthatisincidentuponthesetthiswillonlyoccurifthe
polarizationaxesarerotatedsuchthattheyareperpendiculartoeachother.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/light/Lesson1/Polarization 2/4
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Apicketfenceanalogyisoftenusedtoexplainhowthisdualfilterdemonstrationworks.Apicketfence
canactasapolarizerbytransforminganunpolarizedwaveinaropeintoawavethatvibratesina
singleplane.Thespacesbetweenthepicketsofthefencewillallowvibrationsthatareparalleltothe
spacingstopassthroughwhileblockinganyvibrationsthatareperpendiculartothespacings.Obviously,
averticalvibrationwouldnothavetheroomtomakeitthroughahorizontalspacing.Iftwopicket
fencesareorientedsuchthatthepicketsarebothalignedvertically,thenverticalvibrationswillpass
throughbothfences.Ontheotherhand,ifthepicketsofthesecondfencearealignedhorizontally,then
theverticalvibrationsthatpassthroughthefirstfencewillbeblockedbythesecondfence.Thisis
depictedinthediagrambelow.

Inthesamemanner,twoPolaroidfiltersorientedwiththeirpolarizationaxesperpendiculartoeach
otherwillblockallthelight.Nowthat'saprettycoolobservationthatcouldneverbeexplainedbya
particleviewoflight.


PolarizationbyReflection
Unpolarizedlightcanalsoundergopolarizationbyreflectionoffofnonmetallicsurfaces.Theextentto
whichpolarizationoccursisdependentupontheangleatwhichthelightapproachesthesurfaceand
uponthematerialthatthesurfaceismadeof.Metallicsurfacesreflectlightwithavarietyofvibrational
directionssuchreflectedlightisunpolarized.However,nonmetallicsurfacessuchasasphaltroadways,
snowfieldsandwaterreflectlightsuchthatthereisalargeconcentrationofvibrationsinaplaneparallel
tothereflectingsurface.Apersonviewingobjectsbymeansoflightreflectedoffofnonmetallicsurfaces
willoftenperceiveaglareiftheextentofpolarizationislarge.Fishermenarefamiliarwiththisglare
sinceitpreventsthemfromseeingfishthatliebelowthewater.Lightreflectedoffalakeispartially
polarizedinadirectionparalleltothewater'ssurface.Fishermenknowthattheuseofglarereducing
sunglasseswiththeproperpolarizationaxisallowsfortheblockingofthispartiallypolarizedlight.By
blockingtheplanepolarizedlight,theglareisreducedandthefishermancanmoreeasilyseefish
locatedunderthewater.
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PolarizationbyRefraction
Polarizationcanalsooccurbytherefractionoflight.Refractionoccurswhenabeamoflightpassesfrom
onematerialintoanothermaterial.Atthesurfaceofthetwomaterials,thepathofthebeamchanges
itsdirection.Therefractedbeamacquiressomedegreeof
polarization.Mostoften,thepolarizationoccursinaplane
perpendiculartothesurface.Thepolarizationofrefractedlightis
oftendemonstratedinaPhysicsclassusingauniquecrystalthat
servesasadoublerefractingcrystal.IcelandSpar,aratherrare
formofthemineralcalcite,refractsincidentlightintotwodifferent
paths.Thelightis split
intotwobeamsuponenteringthecrystal.
Subsequently,ifanobjectisviewedbylookingthroughanIceland
Sparcrystal,twoimageswillbeseen.Thetwoimagesaretheresult
ofthedoublerefractionoflight.Bothrefractedlightbeamsare
polarizedoneinadirectionparalleltothesurfaceandtheotherin
adirectionperpendiculartothesurface.Sincethesetworefracted
raysarepolarizedwithaperpendicularorientation,apolarizingfilter
canbeusedtocompletelyblockoneoftheimages.Ifthe
polarizationaxisofthefilterisalignedperpendiculartotheplaneof
polarizedlight,thelightiscompletelyblockedbythefilter
meanwhilethesecondimageisasbrightascanbe.Andifthefilteristhenturned90degreesineither
direction,thesecondimagereappearsandthefirstimagedisappears.Nowthat'sprettyneat
observationthatcouldneverbeobservediflightdidnotexhibitanywavelikebehavior.

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