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Physics Online
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These resources have been reviewed and selected by STEM Learning’s team of education specialists for factual accuracy and relevance to teaching STEM subjects in UK schools.
Polarisation of waves
This video explains the difference between unpolarised light and plane polarised light in terms of using a slit to eliminate unwanted electric wave orientations. It is a continuation of Electromagnetic waves: why they are transverse.
The relationship between the amplitude (A)of light travelling through two polarising sheets at different angles to each other is given by:
A=A0cosθ (Malus’s law) and related to the intensity (I) using: I=I0cos2θ.
The application of polarising filters in sunglasses and in analysing stress fields in materials is briefly explained.
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