Polarized light Definition and 73 Threads

Hi all, I am not quite clear on the relationship between photon spin/helicity, circular polarization of light, and atomic transitions, and I hope someone can clarify a few points. Below are statements that I think are true but are not confident about. (1) Is it correct to say that if I...

[b]1. A person riding in a boat observes that the sunlight reflected by the water is polarized parallel to the surface of the water. The person is wearing polarized sunglasses with the polarization axis vertical. If the wearer leans at an angle of 17.0 degrees to the vertical, what fraction...

Everyone affirms that a circularly polarized plane wave has no angular momentum, though it contains density of spin. However, a circularly polarized beam of any big diameter has spin angular momentum, which is localized at the surface of the beam, though the spin is allocated in the interior of...

Homework Statement Let \sigma^+ light [left circular] be incident on a piece of glass, with incidence angle = 45^\circ. Characterize the polarization of the reflected light. The attempt at a solution My first thought is to simply treat the components of the electric field (Ex,Ey) as...

Homework Statement Find an expression for the P-state lightwave of angular frequency w and amplitude E_0 propagating along a line in the xy-plane at 45 degrees to the x-axis and having its plane of vibration corresponding to the xy-plane. At t = 0, y = 0, and x = 0 the field is 0...

Homework Statement if linearly polarized light has an electric field strength E, what is its field strength after it has passed through polarizing material that has a transmission axis oriented at an angle theta relative to the direction of E? Homework Equations none.The Attempt at a Solution...

1. Here's the question: The percent polarization P of a partially polarized beam of light is defined as P = [Imax - Imin]/[Imax + Imin] x 100 where Imax and Imin are the max and min intensities that are obtained when the light...

Hello all, I'm new to the board here. I have been scratching my head over an example in one of the books I was reading so I looked it up on google. I found an explanation differing from what i'd read, so I thought I would pose the question to this community and see what you think. I have no...

1. *A beam of light that is a mixture of plane polarized and unpolarized light is incident on a sheet of polaroid. The trasmitted intensity varies as the sheet is rotated, having a maximum when the transmission axis is horizontal, and a minimum when it's vertical. If the maximum intensity is...

What happens if two waves polarised in the x and y direction , say, interfere? Will the interference pattern be of less intensity? Or will there be a sharper pattern?

I posted this in cosmology too, but I felt it deserved to be here also. I recently learned something about chemical reactions: A reaction between two achiral molecules will always yield either a symmetrical product or a racemic mixture/s. A reaction involving chiral molecules may yield any...

In organic chemistry we recently learned something about chemical reactions: A reaction between two symmetrical (achiral) molecules will always yield either a symmetrical product or equal mixtures of two mirror images (racemic mixtures). A reaction involving asymmetrical (aka chiral) molecules...

I don't know if it is just my text/sources, but it appears that physics books ignore the phenomenon of left and right polarized light. What I would like help understanding is whether it is possible in the lab to divide plane polarized light into its two circularly polarized components. I know...

We a did an experiment with Colloidal gold, in which we created gold Nano particles. Our teacher told us that we could detect that we had created nanoparticles by shining polarized light on it. We shined light on it from a 90 degrees angle and then we could not see the light on the other side of...

I don't understand this question I guess, because I am not getting the right answer (the internet-site is not accepting it). Question) Three polarizing sheets are stacked. The first and third are crossed; the one between has its polarizing direction at 31.0(deg) to the polarizing direction...

Anyone know why circularly polarized light, when observed after passing through a linear polarizer, would exhibit minima in intensity? It would seem to me that, since the linear polarizer only allows a particular plane of vibration through, and the circularly polarized light rotates about with a...

Sir, A circularly polarised light of intensity I is passed through a polariser resulting in the production of plane polarised light.What is the intensity of the plane polarised light? What is the expression which governs this effect?The formula that I know is I' = I cos^2x(Mallus law).Here...

You need to rotate the polarization direction of some linearly polarized light by an angle φ. That is, the light is initially linearly polarized along some direction (let's call it the y direction), and you need to change it so that the polarization direction is φ away from the y direction. In...

How is it possible to tell that light is circularly polarized using half-wave plate and a linear polarizer?

Could someone 'splain this phenomenon? I place two polarized filters (A and B) at right angles to each other so that the first filter passes light that's polarized vertically, while the second passes light that's polarized horizontally. No light gets all the way through. OK so far. I now...

Looking for ways to liven up your next quantum physics party? Shine a light through a polarized lens. Align and rotate a 2nd lens until the light intensity is reduced to 50%. Align and rotate a 3rd lens until the light intensity is reduced to 25%. Next ask your guests what will happen to the...

I place a 3 foot straight clay pipe, horizontally, pointing North - South. At daybreak, when the sun rises in the East, with the aid of a piece of polished metal, I reflect the light from the sun along the internal diameter of the pipe. The far end is closed by bee's wax. I assume this...

I'm really getting confused. I have to write an article about LCD's and I`m refreshing my memory about polarization. The problem is with the definition of right-cricularly polarized light and left-circularly polarized light. I have two books one is 'Introduction to Optics' by F. and L...