How does one demonstrate, using a suitable diagram, that unpolarised light when passed through a Polaroid gets polarised?
Solution
The phenomenon of restricting the vibration of light (electric vector) in a particular direction perpendicular to the direction of the wave propagation is called polarisation of light.
When unpolarised light is passed through a Polaroid, only those vibrations of light pass through the crystal, which are parallel to the axis of the crystal (AB). All other vibrations are absorbed and that is why intensity of the emerging light is reduced.
The plane ABCD in which the vibrations of the polarised light are confined is called the plane of vibration. The plane KLMN that is perpendicular to the plane of vibration is defined as the plane of polarisation
