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.

What to look for

• Unpolarized light travels from the left.
• At 90° apart no light gets through; at 45°, half of it does.