light intensity equation light intensity equation unpolarized

Two rectangular components viz: E 0 cosθ and E 0 sinθ can be derived from the electric field E 0. The intensity of the incident light on the analyzer ‘I 0 ’ is directly proportional to the square of the amplitude of the electric vector ‘E 0 ’. The plane-polarized light that emerges from the polarizer is incident on the analyzer. Let θ be the angle between the transmission axes of the analyzer and the polarizer. It states that the intensity of plane-polarized light that passes through an analyzer varies directly with the square of the cosine of the angle between the plane of the polarizer and the transmission axes of the analyzer. The below-given figure represents a normalized plot of Malus’s Law.

Hence, the intensity equation I(θ) of the reflected polarized light is given by the following equation, Malus squared the amplitude relation in order to obtain the intensity. Accordingly, he proposed that the amplitude of reflected ray must be A = A 0 cosθ. Malus observed that the intensity varied from maximum to minimum when the crystal was rotated. This law also demonstrates the transverse nature of electromagnetic waves. This law is used to relate the intrinsic connection between optics and electromagnetism. He used a calcite crystal to conduct his experiment.Īfter conducting the experiment, he observed that two types of polarization occurred in natural light that is s- and p- polarization, which are mutually perpendicular to each other. He discovered that natural light could be polarized when reflected by a glass surface.

The law was derived by Etienne-Louis Malus in 1808. It helps us to study the relation of the intensity of light and the polarizer-analyzer. Malus law deals with the polarization properties of light.

Light intensity equation light intensity equation unpolarized