Understanding Polarisation of Light

[nokia8650]

Hi

When light is polarised in only one plane, I am right in thinking that in fact:

The eletric field oscillates in only one plane.
The magnetic field oscillates in only one plane, perpendicular to the plane of the electric field?

So in fact in plane polarised light, oscillations still occur in two planes?

Thanks

 

[LowlyPion]

Yes, technically this is true, but when you are considering the polarization you ignore the magnetic plane.

Conventionally, when considering polarization, the electric field vector is described and the magnetic field is ignored since it is perpendicular to the electric field and proportional to it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarized_light

 

[nokia8650]

Thanks!