Polarization Lab

The Concept: Polarization

Light is a transverse wave, meaning its electric field oscillates perpendicular to its direction of travel. Unpolarized light contains waves oscillating in all possible directions. A polarizer is a filter that only allows light oscillating along its specific axis to pass through. When this polarized light hits a second polarizer (an "analyzer"), the amount of light that gets through is determined by the angle between their axes.

How to Use the Lab

• Unpolarized light travels from the left.
• Use the Polarizer 1 slider to set the angle of the first filter and polarize the light.
• Use the Analyzer slider to set the angle of the second filter.
• Observe how the final light intensity changes. Try setting the angles 90° apart!