Question

How many times the intensity of an unpolarized light wave reduces after passing through a polarizer?

Options

• `1/2`

• `1/4`

• `1/6`

• `1/8`

Answer 1

`1/2`

Explanation:

Unpolarized light vibrates in all possible directions perpendicular to its path. A polarizer acts like a slit that only lets through vibrations aligned with its own axis. Because the vibrations are randomly and evenly distributed, exactly half of the light’s energy (intensity) gets through, while the other half is blocked. 

Therefore, the intensity reduces to `I = I_0/2`.