Pola ition Definition: ‘The phenomenon of confining the vibrations of a wave to a single plane perpendicular to its propagation is called as polarization. > Polarization can be observed only in transvers waves > Polarization phenomenon confirms the transverse nature of a wave. [A wave that can be polarized is a transverse wave.] ¥ In ight, the vibrations are of electric and magnetic fields (perpendicular to each other and at the same time are perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave). Here, the plane of vibrations in an electric {oscillating electri field) is perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the light wave. Therefore, ight is a transverse wave. > In longitudinal waves (like sound) vibration occurs only along the direction of propagation of wave. Hence, they cannot be polarized. Unpolarized light: ‘The light which consists vibrations in every plane perpendicular to the direction of propagation of wave (ight) is called as unpolarized light. > The natural light (white light from cloudless sky) is an unpolarized light. Propagation of wave The dot @ cepreseet the drection of propagation of wave. Perpendicular and outward of plane of paper? “The dots and arrows indicate the vibrations. sh she dvection of propagation of. {Das bration perpen tothe pope] 1 arrows represent the direction of propagation of wave rows bration nthe pave ofoape] ‘Mbratig nthe plone of paper] Polaroid [or polarizer] [A tourmaline crystal]: The device used to produce plane polarized light is called as polaroid. emiina ‘The polaroid, basically interacts with electric fields associated with te light waves. > All lights with electric field vector (E) parallel to the transmission axis are transmitted, While, EF vector perpendicular to the tansmission axis are absorbed, Apes ‘More about Polaroids: ‘These materials have long linear chains of atoms (hydrocarbons) which are oriented in one direction. Electrons in these media can travel more easily along the direction of the atomic chains. This allows the electric fields ‘which are oriented in the direction of the atomic chains to transfer their energy to the electrons in the medium. ‘The component of the electric field which is perpendicular to the atomic chains cannot give energy to the clectrons, because the electrons cannot move in that direction. This means the wave component aligned with the atomic chains is absorbed, while the wave component nonaligned is transmitted. Applications of Polaroids: 1. Insunglasses and camera filter 2. Inwind screens and head light of vehicles 3. Inphotoelasticity 4, In3-D movies, 5. In LCDs (liquid erystal display) Polarizer and Analyzer ‘They are the same material. But they differ in the sense of thei use. Polarizer is used to produce plane polarized light. While, analyzer is used to check (determine) whether the lights polarized or not.Polarized light [plane polarized lightl; ‘The light which consists vibrations in single plane perpendicular to the direction of propagation of wave (light) is called as polarized light. When an unpolarized light is passed through a polarizer, the vibration parallel to the transmission axis of the polarizer is allowed to pass through it and other vibrations are absorbed. The transmitted vibrations yield (give) polarized light [plane polarized light]. +e HH Cnpotarize light Polarized light Ibibrations tr the Plane of paper] Plane of vibration and plane of polarization: ‘The plane containing the direction of vibration and propagation of light is called plane of vibration, Y Iris the plane containing vibration of electric field vectors of plane-polarized light ‘The Plane which is perpendicular to the plane of vibration is called plane of polatiza Unpoterzed ight ‘In the given figure, the plane ABCD is the plane of vibration and the plane EFGH is the plane of polarization, Difference between unpolarized and polarized light: ‘Unpolarized light Polarized li Unpolarized light means the light having vibration of | Polarized light means the light having vibration of light particles in all plane. light particles restricted to a single plane. Unpolarized light has electric field oscillating in all _ | Polarized light has electric fields oscillating in one directions. direction, Light produced by natural sources are always Polarized light can be produced when Unpolarized uunpolatize light undergoes reflection, scattering or travels, through a material that can cause polarization, ‘The intensity of unpolarized light depends on the Intensity of polarized light depends on the nature of nature of source, the polarizer used, Unpolarized light is incoherent in nature Polatized light is coherent in nature [The phase difference between the x-and y components | [The x-and y-components of the electric field has a of the electric field changes randomly] constant phase difference between them] Light can be polarized viaz An ordinary (unpolarized) light can be polarized from the common physical processes that deviate light beams. 1. Reflection —2.Refraction 3. Scattering (diffraction) 4. Absorption ete.Experimental verification of transverse nature of light: ‘The phenomenon of polarization of light verifies the transverse nature of light Verification: Step 1 ‘An ordinary (unpolarized) light is passed through a polarizer (P), The transmitted light gets plane polarized and the intensity is reduced to half of that of incident (unpolarized) light-the maximum intensity of plane polarized light. men te nay HOt rpoteedthe — Peer eyaat Paris Step 2: ‘The emergent beam of polarized light from polarizer (P) is allowed to pass through analyzer (A) with its axis parallel to each other. In this case, the intensity of polarized light through both crystals remains same, Intensity Ip Intensity "fy Intensity fy Urpotarzed ight —Polrcer cuit Polarized Anal eta A A Step 3: Both polarizer and analyzer are rotated parallelly, no change in intensity of polarized light is observed on passing through them, Step 4: ‘The axis of polarizer P is kept fixed & plane of analyzer A is slightly rotated. On doing so, the intensity of ‘emergent beam decreases gradually and becomes zero when axis of A is exactly perpendicular to plane of P. Inert ty aenaty"f nensty 0 Step 5: Cpatratitt onsale An ert ‘The analyzer crystal A is rotated, keeping the polarizer crystal P fixed. The emergent polarized light is gradually reappeared and finally attains maximum intensity when axis of both crystals is again parallel to each other. Inte Te leery HHOH+OHt Cipolarzed ight Poland ght Aneel “This experiment shows thot lights a tansverse wave. [Flight waves were longitudinal, there would be no change in intensity of light due to the rotation of Analyzer erystal AStatemei “The intensity of plane-polarized light that passes through (emerges from) an analyzer varies directly with the square of the cosine of the angle between the transmission axes of the polarizer and the analyzer” If 6 be the angle between the transmission axes of polarizer and analyzer, then according to Malus law: intensity of emergent light, « cos?@. Proof: Consider an unpolarized light with certain intensity is incident on a polarizer (P). The component light parallel to the transmission axis of the polarizer are allowed to pass through it and the perpendicular components are absorbed. If E, be the amplitude of electric field vector transmitted through polarizer, then corresponding intensity is: 1, © E,? w Now, place a analyzer (A) just behind the polarizer (P) such that the angle between the transmission axes is 0, as shown in figure Intensity I, Intensity:1 = [gcos?8 cerystal Polarizer erystal P ‘As in previous case, the parallel component light (with amplitude Ej Ex coed ,¢0s®) are alowed to passthrough analyzer and the perpendicular Pe et) components (with amplitude E,sin@) are absorbed. Then the intensity of light transmitted through the analyzer is: 8 1 & (Eqcos6)* Egsind Or, 1 E,?c0s?6 Q) tented) From equations (1) and (2), we get 1= 1, cos8 Or, | J cos?@ ‘This is Malus law. ‘Malus lan Ith, intensity of unpolarized light I, = intensity of light transmitted through 1* polaroid I, = intensity of light transmitted through 2" polaroid h Then, Ip and [5 = [, COS?8, where @ isthe angle between two polaroid. zi 1, Two polaroids are oriented with their planes perpendicular to incident ight and their transmission axes are oriented at 60°. Then the percentage of finally transmitted polarized light will be: a. 125% 37.5% ©. 62.5% 4.875% 2. Inthe given figure, two polaroids are inclined at angle of 30°. The intensity of unpolarized light is E. The ratio of transmitted intensity to absorbed intensity is a 3/8 b.3/5 3/4 45/3Polarization by reflection: Experimentally it has been discovered (by Malus) that when an ordinary unpolarized light is incident on the surface of transparent medium (like: glass, water etc.), the reflected light is partially plane polarized, ¥ The degree of polarization depends upon the angle of incidence. ‘The angle of incidence at which the reflected ray is completely polarized is called as polarizing angle (6,) or Brewster’s angle (8). ¥Y When angle of incidence is equal to polarizing angle, the reflected ray and transmitted (refracted) ray are perpendicular to each other. The reflected ray is completely polarized while the refracted ray is partially polarized. edcindig: petty pet Figure: Partial polarization of tight (i < 8, or i > 8,) [Incident rays and refracted rays, both are partially polarized) Brewster’s law: ‘Statement: “The tangent of angle of polarization is numerically equal to the refractive index of medium.” ic. tan Oy = ma/igie ‘completely polarized light Consider an ordinary (unpolarized) light incident upon a transparent medium of refractive index jt at the polarizing angle such that the reflected ray is completely plane polarized while the refracted (transmitted) ray is partially polarized, as shown in figure.For polarizing angle, the reflected and refracted rays are perpendicular to each other. ie, £RST = 90° bp +7 = 90° 90° - 6, a sin a : sings _ sing, Now, from Snell's law: ye = SP = [STS = S84 = tan by This is Brewster’s law. Brewster's la 1. It is used in polarizing filter of the camera lens to reduce the reflection from reflective surface (that helps to take pictures of object below water surface), 2. Itis used in polarized sunglasses to reduce glare that is reflected directly from the sun and also from horizontal surfaces like roads and water. Brewst law: w= tan dy 8 Y For air-glass boundary: a fs = My = tand, Y For water-glass boundary: wg = My For any medium, refractive index: Where, ¢ = speed of light in air = 3 x 10°m/s v= speed of light inthe medium Tne * ae £000 IfC be the critical angle of medium, # = > The valu f polarizing angle depends upon: () nature of medium (efractve index of medium), coe enero (Gd wavelength of light wed > Polarizing angle is greater for denser medium (higher) and smaller for rarer medium (1 smaller). 1. For a given medium, the polarizing angle is 60°. What will be the critical angle and refractive index of the ‘medium. Also, find the speed of light in the medium. [Ans: 1.73, 35.23°, 1.73 x 10%m/s} 2. The critical angle for light in a certain substance is 45°. The polarizing angle is a 45° b.5s° ©. 65° 475° 3. When a ray of light is incident on a surface at glancing angle 30°, the reflected ray is found to be completely polarized. The angle of refraction will be: a 20° 30 ©. 0° 50° 4, The polarizing angle for the light travelling from water of refractive index 1.33 to a glass of refractive index LSBis: a 30 38° 40° .49° Applications (Uses) of polarization: 1. Polarization is used in sunglasses to reduce the glare. (Zhe transmission axis of polaroid in sunglasses is vertical, so only vertical components of light are transmitted while horizontal components are absorbed. Polaroid filters are used in plastic industries for performing stress analysis tests Three-dimensional movies are produced and shown with the help of polarization Polarization is used for differentiating between transverse and longitudinal waves. ete, pepExercise: Part I: 1. The polarization phenomenon can take place ‘.in transverse waves only b. in Iongitude waves only in standing waves only din all waves 2. Transverse nature of light is conclusively proved by the phenomenon of a. interference diffraction . polarization 4. reflection 3. Which of the following phenomenon does not support wave nature of light: a. Interference b diffraction «. polarization «. none of above 4. Intensity of light depends on frequency b. vel ©. wavelength 4. amplitude 5. In the propagation of electromagnetic waves, the angle between the direction of propagation and plane of polarizations is a 0° b.90° ©.45° 180° 6. The device produce plane polarized light is a. acrystal b.abiprism ca grating 4. Nicol prism 7. Light transmitted by Nicol prism is a. unpolarized b. plane polarized _¢, circularly polarized 4. elliptcally polarized 8. Optically active substance are those which 1. produce polarized light » rotate the plane of polarization of polarized light «. produces double refraction 4, convert plane polarized light into circularly polarized light ‘9, In the propagation of light waves, the angle between the plane of vibration and plane of polarization is a 45° b. 60° ©.90° 180° 1. Can ultrasonic waves be polarized? Explain. 2. Is there any difference between polarizer and analyzer? Explain. 3. What is the basie difference between polarized and unpolarized light? Part Il: 1. An unpolarized beam of intensity falls on a polaroid. The intensity of emergent light is al bie ce zero 2. The Brewster's angle for polarization is given by a. sin" = ip bsin (Qu) = ip ctann n= ip. sin“(1Ju) =i 3. Ifthe tight is polarized by reflection, then the angle between reflected and refracted light is a 0° b. 45° ©. 90° d. 180° 4. The amplitude of the unpolarized light incident on the polarizer is a’. What will be the amplitude on the polarized light transmitted through it? ot os e fie ate a. tan''(4/5) . tan''(3/4) 4. tan"'(4/3) 6. A light beam is incident at @ on an interface of air glass such that angle between reflected and refracted beams is 90°, Then 0 is a. tar!G/2) b.tan2 c.tan'G/4) 4.tan'(4/3) 7. An unpolarized beam of light is incident on a group of four polarizing sheets which are arranged in such a way that the characteristic direction of each polarizing sheet makes an angle of 30° with that of the preceding sheet. The percentage of incident light transmitted by first polarizer will be a 20% b.25% ©. 50% 4.100% 1. How do you confirm that light coming from the sky is partially polarized?How do sunglasses reduce the glare of intense light? Does the polarizing angle for a transparent medium depends upon the wavelength of light? Explain with appropriate mathematical expression, How would you obtain plane polarized light by reflection? A ray of light incident on a glass plate at an angle of 33° with its surface. If the reflected and refracted light are perpendicular to each other, what is the index for refraction of glass? What is the angle of refraction? [Ans: 1.539; 33° Two polaroids are perpendicular to each other and the final transmitted intensity is zero. What will be the effect on the intensity of light transmitted through a third polaroid placed between the previous two polaroids bisecting the angle between them? How would you show that light waves are transverse in nature? [for 2 marks} What does polarization property verify? At what angle of incidence, the reflected ray becomes plane polarized for monochromatic light of wavelength 5896A’ in air is passed to a transparent medium at which the wavelength becomes 39314"? (Ans: 56.31") w — (vw _ Ya _ Aaf (tine p= tand, H them TE Geo ne eh da ie, H = 3 = Candy solve and find 6.