Qualitative:

Record your observations of what you see when you look at various light sources with polarizers.  Don’t forget to rotate the polarizers!

Don’t look directly at bright sources like lasers or the Sun – shine bright sources through a polarizer onto a screen.

If it’s not cloudy, take a polarizer outside and note what you see when you look at the sky. If it is cloudy, consider the scattering demo in lab.

Does reflected light show signs of polarization?

Try placing various transparent materials between an unpolarized light source and a polarizer.  Do the materials linearly polarize the light?  How can you tell? Record your observations and conclusions, and discuss them with your lab instructor.

Determine the polarizing direction for each of your polarizers, and explain what you did.

Quantitative:

Use the photodiode amplifier to measure light intensity as a function of the angle between the polarizing directions of two polarizers.  Include uncertainty in your measurements and calculations.  Plot your results.  Are they consistent with the law of Malus?

Background Equipment Summary Questions