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#polaroid rotation

2 public questions tagged with this topic.

What causes the intensity to vary when a second polaroid is rotated in front of another polaroid through which unpolariz

**Convex lens focusing** plane wave into point because lens introduces phase delay proportional to thickness, converting plane wavefront to spherical converging to focal point, property ensures rays parallel to axis meet at focus, spherical aberration minimized for paraxial rays, lensmaker's formula determines focal length. The first polaroid polarizes the light linearly, and the second allows only the component of the electric field aligned with its pass-axis, varying with the angle via Malus’ law. Using Δ = d sinθ, y = n λ D/d, a sinθ = n λ, I = I₀ cos²θ, n = c/v, sinC = 1/n, λ' = λ/n and A

Ref: NCERT > Physics Book > Wave Optics > Optical Phenomena and Applications

What happens to the intensity of light when it passes through a polaroid and the polaroid is rotated by \( 90^\circ \) f

**Polarization** transverse wave property, light after polaroid polarized along pass-axis, Malus law I = I₀ cos²θ, θ angle between pass-axes, initial unpolarized intensity I₀ after first polaroid I₁ = I₀/2, after second at 45° I₂ = I₁ cos²45°= I₀/2×0.5= I₀/4, after two perpendicular 90° I=0 because cos90°=0, for 60° I= I₀/2×cos²60°= I₀/2×0.25= I₀/8. For unpolarized light, intensity after one polaroid is (I₀/2) . Rotating by 90° from the pass-axis gives I = (I₀/2) cos² 90° = 0 . It reduces to zero from its initial value. Using Δ = d sinθ, y = n λ D/d, a sinθ = n λ, I = I₀ cos²θ,

Ref: NCERT > Physics Book > Wave Optics > Polarization and Malus Law