Polarization

Apparatus:

• calcite (Iceland spar)
• crystal polaroid film

1. Lay the crystal on a piece of paper that has print on it. You will observe a double image. See what happens if you rotate the crystal.

Evidently the crystal does something to the light that passes through it on the way from the page to your eye. One beam of light enters the crystal from underneath, but two emerge from the top; by conservation of energy the energy of the original beam must be shared between them. Consider the following three possible interpretations of what you have observed:

(a) The two new beams differ from each other, and from the original beam, only in energy. Their other properties are the same.

(b) The crystal adds to the light some mysterious new property (not energy), which comes in two flavors, X and Y. Ordinary light doesn't have any of either. One beam that emerges from the crystal has some X added to it, and the other beam has Y.

(c) There is some mysterious new property that is possessed by all light. It comes in two flavors, X and Y, and most ordinary light sources make an equal mixture of type X and type Y light. The original beam is an even mixture of both types, and this mixture is then split up by the crystal into the two purified forms.

In parts 2 and 3 you'll make observations that will allow you to figure out which of these is correct.

2. Now place a polaroid film over the crystal and see what you observe. What happens when you rotate the film in the horizontal plane? Does this observation allow you to rule out any of the three interpretations?

3. Now put the polaroid film under the crystal and try the same thing. Putting together all your observations, which interpretation do you think is correct?

4. Look at an overhead light fixture through the polaroid, and try rotating it. What do you observe? What does this tell you about the light emitted by the lightbulb?

5. Now position yourself with your head under a light fixture and directly over a shiny surface, such as a glossy tabletop. You'll see the lamp's reflection, and the light coming from the lamp to your eye will have undergone a reflection through roughly a 180-degree angle (i.e. it very nearly reversed its direction). Observe this reflection through the polaroid, and try rotating it. Finally, position yourself so that you are seeing glancing reflections, and try the same thing. Summarize what happens to light with properties X and Y when it is reflected. (This is the principle behind polarizing sunglasses.)