H2 Physics 10 - Wave Motion and Polarisation: Malus's Law

What you will learn

• Unpolarised light I_0 through a polariser then an analyser at 60 degrees; find each intensity and the angle for zero transmission.
• Ideal polariser transmits half: I_1 = I_0 / 2, now plane-polarised along the polariser's transmission axis.
• Malus's law: I_2 = I_1 cos^2 theta = (I_0 / 2)(0.25) = I_0 / 8, which is 12.5% of the original.