Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Polarization (waves)
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
=== Polarized sunglasses === [[File:Mudflats-polariser.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.5|Effect of a polarizer on reflection from mud flats. In the picture on the left, the horizontally oriented polarizer preferentially transmits those reflections; rotating the polarizer by 90° (right) as one would view using polarized sunglasses blocks almost all [[specular reflection|specularly reflected]] sunlight.]] [[File:Test for polarized and non-polarized sunglasses 2.jpg|left|thumb|One can test whether sunglasses are polarized by looking through two pairs, with one perpendicular to the other. If both are polarized, all light will be blocked.]] Unpolarized light, after being reflected by a specular (shiny) surface, generally obtains a degree of polarization. This phenomenon was observed in the early 1800s by the mathematician [[Étienne-Louis Malus]], after whom [[Malus's law]] is named. Polarizing [[sunglasses]] exploit this effect to reduce glare from reflections by horizontal surfaces, notably the road ahead viewed at a grazing angle. Wearers of polarized sunglasses will occasionally observe inadvertent polarization effects such as color-dependent birefringent effects, for example in [[toughened glass]] (e.g., car windows) or items made from transparent [[plastic]]s, in conjunction with natural polarization by reflection or scattering. The polarized light from LCD monitors (see below) is extremely conspicuous when these are worn.
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)