Polarization & Polarization Filters Practice Problems

The intensity of light emitted by an incandescent light bulb is I _B. The emitted light is directed toward a system consisting of four polarizers. The first polarizer's axis is vertical, whereas the second, third, and fourth polarizers' axes are 45°, 90°, and 135° counterclockwise from the vertical, respectively. Calculate the intensity of the light that emerges from the system.

During a laboratory-based course, a system of two polarizing films is used to verify Malus' law. The two films have their polarization axes inclined at 40° to each other. A collimated beam of unpolarized light of intensity 5 mW/m² is sent into the system. Calculate the transmitted intensity through the polarizing system.

A filament lamp's light beam, of intensity I_light, is sent on a series of three polarizer sheets, each rotated 45.0° from the one before it as it is shown in the figure. A student rotates the middle polarizer and makes the polarization axes of the first and middle polarizers align. Determine the intensity of the beam when it emerges from the system of polarizers.

An unpolarized beam of light from an ordinary tungsten bulb is incident in the x direction and has an intensity I_inc. It crosses two ideal linear sheet polarizers stacked one behind the other. The transmission axis of the first sheet is perpendicular to the x-axis, while the transmission axis of the second sheet forms an angle Φ  with respect to the first. Determine the value of Φ if the intensity of the light emerging from the two polarizers is I_inc/6.

The polarized light of a laser diode passes through two polarizers, P₁ and P₂. Polarizer P₁ has its transmission axis along the y-axis, while the transmission axis of the second polarizer forms an angle Φ  with respect to the y-axis. The incident light, of initial intensity I_i, is polarized along the y-axis. Calculate Φ if the transmitted light intensity at position M is I_i/8.

The polarized electromagnetic wave shown in the figure below has a frequency of 5.0 × 10 ⁹ Hz. The maximum magnetic field strength of the wave is measured to be 0.01 T. Determine the maximum magnitude of the wave's electric field.

The light emitted by a 6.0 W/m ² incandescent light bulb passes through a polarizer, with its axis oriented horizontally. After passing through the polarizer, the light then passes through an analyzer. The angle between the analyzer and the horizontal axis is unknown. A power meter measures an intensity of 0.75 W/m ² after the light has passed through the analyzer. Determine the angle of the analyzer with respect to the polarizer's axis.