lecture 1

Question 1

what is polarization?

Answer 1

Polarization is the orientation if oscillations in a transverse wave; it describes the direction of the electric field vector as the light wave propagates through space; for unpolarized light, the electric field vector oscillates in all possible directions perpendicular to the direction of propagation

Question 2

what is a polarizer?

Answer 2

Polarizers are optical filters that allow light waves of a specific orientation of polarization to pass through while others are blocked. when light passes through a polarizer, its intensity decreases since only light waves aligned with the polarizer will pass through.

Question 3

what is an analyzer?

Answer 3

= another polarizer placed along the optical path after the sample has been studied. it can be rotated and you can analyze polarization properties of light

Question 4

what does Malus’s law state?

Answer 4

if linearly polarized light is transmissable through an analyzer, whose transmission direction is out at an angle theta with the polarization direction of light, the output intensity is given by I(A) = I(P)*cos^2(theta)

Question 5

which part of the electric field is fully transmitted and which part is fully absorbed?

Answer 5

the electric field vector that is parallel is fully transmitted, while the perpendicular one is fully absorbed

Question 6

what happens if the analyzer is perpendicular to the polarizer?

Answer 6

all the light is absorbed and so the intensity after the polarizer is 0.

Question 7

when does all the light pass through ?

Answer 7

if the electric field vector is perpendicular to the direction of propagation and parallel to the transmission direction of analyzer, all light passes through and intensitied are equal