1 / 12

Polarization of light

Polarization of light. Covered in class on Monday 4/11 (Week 14) Jonathan Szuch. What is polarization?. Polarization is used to describe the motion of waves of light. The waves are perpendicular to the direction in which the wave is traveling.

jason
Download Presentation

Polarization of light

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Polarization of light Covered in class on Monday 4/11 (Week 14) Jonathan Szuch

  2. What is polarization? • Polarization is used to describe the motion of waves of light. • The waves are perpendicular to the direction in which the wave is traveling. • The waves are either up and down or left to right in their motion. • The motion of the waves in polarized light occur in a single plane.

  3. Nonpolarized light • Nonpolarized light is light in which the motion of the waves is in all directions. • Nonpolarized light is light that comes directly from the sun or other light source such as lightbulbs.

  4. More on polarization • Light becomes polarized in many cases. • A polarized filter can be used to change nonpolarized light into polarized light by only allowing waves on a single plane to pass through. • Glares off of water, glass, or other surfaces is reflected as polarized light. • This leads to the use of polarized sunglasses to block the glares from these various surfaces.

  5. Polarized lenses • Polarized light waves can be blocked out by the use of polarized lenses. • The lenses only allow light waves with a certain linear motion through so all the other waves are blocked out.

  6. Applications of polarization • Polarization is used in various degrees: • Cameras • Sunglasses • LCD electronics

  7. Polarized camera lenses • Cameras can be equipped with a polarized lens which enhances the pictures taken. • The lenses block out glares and highlight images taken outdoors.

  8. Polarized sunglasses • Polarized sunglasses have lenses that are made to only allow vertical light waves pass through. • Reflective surfaces such as water and glass reflect only horizontal light waves. • The horizontal light waves are completely blocked out by the lenses, thus diminishing the glares from these surfaces.

  9. Polarized vs. Nonpolarized • Polarized sunglasses provide many benefits. • They are particularly beneficial for fishing, when the light is reflected off the water. • The glasses block the glare off the water and even allow fishermen to see into the water. • Nonpolarized sunglasses do not block out glares from the water, and therefore, it is very difficult to see into the water.

  10. LCD electronics • Polarized filters are used in LCD electronics today. • The light first passes through one polarized filter. • Then, the light is passed through a layer of liquid crystals. • Finally, the light is passed through another polarized filter.

  11. New insight • Now that I have a better understanding of polarization, there are a few things I will look at differently. • I will know seriously consider spending a little extra money to buy polarized sunglasses over nonpolarized ones. • Also, I will be sure that my camera is equipped with a polarized filter so my pictures turn out in the highest quality.

  12. Works Cited • http://www.ehow.com/about_4672198_what-polarization-light.html • http://www.scribd.com/doc/20200721/19/USES-OF-POLARIZATION • http://www.pcworld.com/article/15112/how_it_works_lcd_monitors.html • http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/everyday-innovations/sunglass5.htm

More Related