Is Fluorescent Lighting Polarized?

[cchan]

Hi,

I've tried looking everywhere for the answer to this, and would be fantastic if anyone could help me.

Is fluorescent lighting (found in energy saving light bulbs/lamps) polarized?

Thanks

 

[Capuchin]

Surely you can buy a cheap polarized filter and see for yourself?

 

[David Brenchley]

No ..
The light we see from a fluourescent is due to stimulated emmission from the atoms of a phospher coating on the inside of the tube. Photons in the ultra violet are generated by the electrical excitation of mercury vapor inside the tube, these photons strike the phosphers atoms, raising their energy state forcing them to emit photons in the same direction as the photon that struct them in the visible light range. As the photons created by the excitation of the mercury are random .. the resulting "white" light is random as well .. hence not polarized ...