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Home » Space/Science

The polarization puzzle August 26, 2023 6:24 pm ER

Get two old (or cheap) pairs of polaroid sun glasses and separate all four lenses from the frames.

Call them A, B, C and D. The order doesn’t matter.

Throw away D. You won’t need it in this experiment.

Line up A and B so you can see a light source (an open window will do fine) through both of them.

Rotate either A or B until the light source can no longer be seen. It is “cancelled out”.

Place C between A and B and the light source once again becomes visible.

Why is that? Adding that extra lens should remove transmitted light, not add some more.

  • Welcome to the world of mineral optics by podrock 2023-08-27 08:52:26
    • It was an early researcher of mineral optics that discovered Haidinger's brush.... by RL 2023-08-30 21:00:45
    • If they are PERFECT polarizers by RL 2023-08-26 19:21:21

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