- #1
Matt S
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Hi, I've not posted on here before but I'm trying to keep on top of work over the summer and I'm having some real problems with this question
Consider the plane polarised EM wave in a source free vacuum with magnetic field B = (1,1,0)B0cos(kz-wt) where B0 = 0.001T. Find the direction of propagation of the wave, the average energy density of the wave and the fraction of this energy which would pass through a perfect polaroid sheet at normal incidence if the angle between B and the transmission axis of the polariser is 30o.
For the second part, I'm pretty sure you have to use U=B2/u0 where U is the energy density and u0 is the permeability of free space.
The first part seems relatively simple, the wave travels perpendicularly to the magnetic field, so it moves in the (0,0,1) direction.
The second part asks for the average energy density but since B varies with respect to both time and position I'm not sure how to find it, would I have to integrate the expression for B with respect to t and then use the equation for U?
Obviously without an answer to part two I can't complete the third section. However, I'm pretty sure I have to find the fraction of the wave that passes through the polariser and hence find its energy density and then express that as a fraction of the incident energy density. I'm quite new to polarisation so I don't really know where to start and looking online has just confused me so far. Suggestions or links to relevant material would be really appreciated.
Thanks a lot.
Homework Statement
Consider the plane polarised EM wave in a source free vacuum with magnetic field B = (1,1,0)B0cos(kz-wt) where B0 = 0.001T. Find the direction of propagation of the wave, the average energy density of the wave and the fraction of this energy which would pass through a perfect polaroid sheet at normal incidence if the angle between B and the transmission axis of the polariser is 30o.
Homework Equations
For the second part, I'm pretty sure you have to use U=B2/u0 where U is the energy density and u0 is the permeability of free space.
The Attempt at a Solution
The first part seems relatively simple, the wave travels perpendicularly to the magnetic field, so it moves in the (0,0,1) direction.
The second part asks for the average energy density but since B varies with respect to both time and position I'm not sure how to find it, would I have to integrate the expression for B with respect to t and then use the equation for U?
Obviously without an answer to part two I can't complete the third section. However, I'm pretty sure I have to find the fraction of the wave that passes through the polariser and hence find its energy density and then express that as a fraction of the incident energy density. I'm quite new to polarisation so I don't really know where to start and looking online has just confused me so far. Suggestions or links to relevant material would be really appreciated.
Thanks a lot.