Laboratory №9

Light Polarization
Section: 5
Date:
Anel Galymzhankyzy
Sulu Yntymakova
Alnur Zhumadil

Objectives:
● To determine the relationship between light intensity and the angle formed by the two
polarizers' axes
● To apply theoretical knowledge of light polarization in practice.
● To be able to find the best mathematical function to match data.

Experimental Description:
In this experiment, the relationship between the intensity of the light transmitted through
two polarizers and the angle between the axes of them are determined. For this laboratory work,
the following equipment is used: light source, laser, free polarizer, polarizer with a belt, rotary
motion sensor, light sensor, and DataStudio software. This experiment consists of two parts and
before conducting the experiment the setup should be prepared and the sample rate should be
fixed at 10 Hz. The steps for both parts are described in the manual and video of the experiment.

Experimental data:
Part 1:

.
Figure 1. Light intensity vs. Angular Position of provided experimental data
 Data analysis:
Part1:
Applying Malus’s Law, the relationship between light intensity and angle between the
analyzer and polarizer:
2 2
𝐼 = 𝐴 *𝐸 = 𝐼 𝑚𝑎𝑥
* 𝑐𝑜𝑠 (φ) (1)
where,
2
𝐼- Light intensity, 𝑊/𝑚 ;
2
𝐼 - Maximum intensity/amplitude, 𝑊/𝑚 ;
𝑚𝑎𝑥
φ- Angle between the transmission axes of analyzer and polarizer;
We used harmonic equations of the cosine function:
𝑛
𝑦 = 𝐴 * 𝑐𝑜𝑠 (ω𝑥 + φ) (2)
where,
2
𝑦- Light intensity, 𝑊/𝑚 ;
𝐴, ω, φ- constants;
𝑥- Angular position.
Sine square function:
2
𝑦 = 𝐴 * 𝑠𝑖𝑛 (ω𝑥) (3)
where,
2
𝑦- Light intensity, 𝑊/𝑚 ;
𝐴, ω- constants;
𝑥- Angular position.
Also, a chi-square test was done:
2
2 (𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎−𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑖)
χ =∑ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎
(4)
𝑖

Visual Representation1:
Part1:
Figure 2. Light intensity vs. Angular Position of chosen experimental data ( from 146.70 to
502.65 degrees)

Different functions:

Figure 3. Light intensity vs. Angular Position for experimental data and cosine function
Cosine function: y=(20*cos((φ× π/180)+π/4))
2
𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 20 𝑊/𝑚 ; φ − 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎
 Figure 4. Light intensity vs. Angular Position for experimental data and cos^2 function
Cosine function: y=(20*cos((φ× π/180)+π/4)^2)
2
𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 20 𝑊/𝑚 ; φ − 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎

Figure 5. Light intensity vs. Angular Position for experimental data and cos^3 function
Cosine function: y=(20*cos((φ× π/180)+π/4)^3)
2
𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 20 𝑊/𝑚 ; φ − 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎
Error calculation:
If we were given the stdev value for the light intensity, we might estimate the error. We
were unable to locate the error caused by shaking the polarizers because data on the shaking
effect was not provided. Considering this issue we were unable to estimate errors.
Part2:
In this part, we will make an assumption about what we would get if we performed it.
Owing to the fact that the two polarizers on the same axis are almost opposite, only a small
portion of the light passes through the analyzer. The first polarizer should be at 0 degrees, and
the third should be almost at 80 or 90 degrees, according to the manual. However, the light
portion on the screen will depend on the angle between the first two polarizers when we return
the second polarizer, which can be assumed by calculating the light intensity of each of them. As
a result, we set the second polarizer at 45 degrees from the first, and the third polarizer at 45
degrees from the second. We may claim that light lost half of its strength after passing through
the first polarizer. As it passes through the second polarizer, we'll use the following equation:
1
𝐼 1= 2 * 𝐼 0 (5)
2 𝑜 1 1
𝐼 2
=𝐼 1
* 𝑐𝑜𝑠 45 = 2
*𝐼 0
* 2
= 0. 25 * 𝐼 0
(6)
Continue with the third one:
2 𝑜 1 1
𝐼 3
=𝐼 2
* 𝑐𝑜𝑠 45 = 4
*𝐼 0
* 2
= 0. 125 * 𝐼 0
(7)
We can see that the final intensity of light after passing through polarizers is 1/8 of its
initial intensity. Using the same process, we can determine light intensities from various angles.

Discussion:
In order to obtain the best fit function to the experimental data from the experiment
different cosine functions were used. From equation 1, it can be seen that the relationship
between the angular position and light intensity is shown through the cosine function as follows
2 2
𝐼 = 𝐴 *𝐸 = 𝐼 𝑚𝑎𝑥
* 𝑐𝑜𝑠 (φ), however, we used sin functions additionally. From Malus’s law,
it can be drawn that the intensity of polarized light can be described as a product of maximum
intensity multiplied by the angle between two transmission axes of polarizers. And from this, the
objectives of this experiment were investigated. As it is known from the formulas above in the
analysis part, maximum intensity is achieved when cosine equals 1, and according to Mauls’s
law, it was expected that the maximum intensity of polarized light can be reached when the angle
between transmission axes are 0, 180, and 360 degrees. As it was determined during the
laboratory experiment, between the angles of 311 and 317 degrees the intensity (𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥) was 20
and 20.1 accordingly. Of course, these values do not fully correspond with theoretical values
which indicates that different deviations took place in this laboratory work.
Overall, the experiment was conducted successfully as objectives were achieved and
every step was made according to the requirements listed in the manual. From the analysis part
above, it can be clearly seen that the angle between the axes of two polarizers and the light
intensity transmitted through them are correlated with the following formula
2
𝐼=𝐼 𝑚𝑎𝑥
* 𝑐𝑜𝑠 (φ). From the graphs, it can be noticed that there are some inaccuracies and
whitespaces. The most possible reasons for these kinds of errors are systematic and random
errors, which are described below in the conclusion part.
 Conclusion:
In this experiment, the relationship between light intensity and the angle between the axes
of the two polarizers was known. We discovered a mathematical feature that most closely
matched the experimental results and predicted what would happen if the second part of the
experiment had been completed. To enhance the experiment, we recommend that it be conducted
in a dark room to prevent source error and that the polarizers be rotated slowly to account for the
shaking effect. Often, specialized applications can be used to find the best fit functions since they
have error values and more precise results. In conclusion, the experiment was conducted
successfully and all objectives are achieved.

References

[1] S. J. Ling, W. Moebs, and J. Sanny, “University Physics Volume 2,” 06-Oct-2016. [Online].
Available: https://openstax.org/details/books/university-physics-volume-2. [Accessed:
24-Jan-2021].

[2] R. A. Serway, J. W. Jewett, and V. Peroomian, Physics for scientists and engineers with
modern physics. Boston, MA: Cengage, 2019.

[3] Physics Labs, Lab 9 Light Polarization, 2021. Available:https: //youtu.be/Pry62LTdmmY