Polarization of light  

Unpolarized Light

         The ordinary white light is made up of waves that fluctuates at all possible angles and vibrating in more than one plane is called unpolarized light. Example: Sun or candle flame is unpolarized light.

Polarization

The interference and diffraction have confirmed the wave nature of light but it is not decided through these phenomena whether light waves are transverse or longitudinal. The phenomenon which decided the transverse nature of light is called polarization.

polarization of light
Polarizer
The material which polarizes the light is called polarizer. It is an optical filter that allows to pass light of a specific polarization and block wave of other polarization. The common type of polarizers are called linear polarizer or circular polarizer.

                                          Method of polarization

There are four method of polarization.

  • Selective absorption
  • Reflection
  • Double refraction
  • Scattering