Brewster's law for incident vertically polarised light

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around Brewster's law and its implications when vertically polarised light is incident at Brewster's angle. Participants explore the nature of polarisation and the behavior of light under these conditions, with a focus on theoretical understanding and experimental validation.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant states that Brewster's law indicates unpolarised light becomes plane polarised upon reflection at a specific angle, questioning the outcome for vertically polarised light at the same angle.
  • Several participants express a desire to experiment before forming a theoretical answer, indicating a preference for empirical evidence over speculation.
  • Some participants argue that light rarely "gets polarised," suggesting that polarisation involves the selection of certain electric field components while others are absorbed or reflected.
  • There is a discussion about the differences between incident unpolarised light and previously polarised light, with one participant suggesting a need to reconsider the understanding of polarisation.
  • Another participant questions the understanding of vertical components in polarised versus unpolarised light, prompting a suggestion for further reading on the topic.
  • Uncertainty is expressed by one participant regarding specific aspects of the discussion, indicating a lack of clarity on the topic.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants exhibit a mix of agreement and disagreement, particularly regarding the nature of polarisation and the implications of Brewster's law for vertically polarised light. The discussion remains unresolved, with multiple viewpoints presented.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference the need for empirical experimentation and express uncertainty about theoretical aspects of polarisation, indicating limitations in their current understanding and resources.

Wrichik Basu
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Brewster's law on polarisation states that if a unpolarised light is incident at a certain angle of incidence, then part of it gets plane polarised and is reflected.

What happens if the incident light itself is vertically polarised for the same brewster's angle and same wavelength of light used before?
 
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What would be your intuitive answer to that? (And why)
 
sophiecentaur said:
What would be your intuitive answer to that? (And why)

I would like to experiment before putting down any answer on such topics. Unfortunately, I do not have all the requirements currently for the experiment so I'll put no theoretical answer.
 
Wrichik Basu said:
I would like to experiment before putting down any answer on such topics.
I'd say that light rarely "gets polarized". In most cases, some polarizations are either absorbed or reflected away while others pass through.
That should give you enough information to answer your question.
 
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SlowThinker said:
I'd say that light rarely "gets polarized". In most cases, some polarizations are either absorbed or reflected away while others pass through.
You are referring to my case of incident polarised light or the normal one?
 
SlowThinker said:
I'd say that light rarely "gets polarized".
I agree. It sounds as if something 'forced' the random E vectors all to lay in a certain direction. "Polarisation" of an unpolarised beam involves selection of the E component of all the random vectors in a chosen direction.
 
Wrichik Basu said:
You are referring to my case of incident polarised light or the normal one?
What "normal" one?
 
sophiecentaur said:
What "normal" one?
Incident unpolarised light.
 
Wrichik Basu said:
Incident unpolarised light.
You seem to think there is something different about the Vertical components in a randomly polarised beam and the vertical components in a beam that has already passed through a polariser. You may need to re-think your ideas about what polarisation actually means.
How much have you read about polarisation? You should do some reading round this topic - it's hardly worth my finding a link and copying it to you when you can find all this very easily. Try the Hyperphysics website. You can usually rely on getting good information from them. (There are some nonsense websites that talk about polarisation.)
 
  • #10
I am not quite sure about it.
 
  • #11
Which bit are you not sure about?
 

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