Did you know?
Absolute zero (−273.15°C) is the coldest possible temperature — at which atoms nearly stop moving.
Did you know?
Absolute zero (−273.15°C) is the coldest possible temperature — at which atoms nearly stop moving.
Unpolarised light is incident from air on a plane surface of a material of refractive index At a particular angle of incidence it is found that the reflected and refracted rays are perpendicular to each other. Which of the following options is correct for this situation?
Reflected light is polarised with its electric vector perpendicular to the plane of incidence
Reflected light is polarised with its electric vector parallel to the plane of incidence
To solve this problem, we need to understand the condition given:The reflected and refracted rays are perpendicular to each other.This condition is satisfied at Brewster's angle, where the angle of incidence is such that:Here, is the angle of refraction. Since we have:Using Snell's law:For air, and for the material, Therefore,Since we have:Dividing both sides by we get:Thus, the angle of incidence is given by:This means that the reflected light is completely polarized when the angle of incidence is Brewster's angle.At Brewster's angle, the reflected light is polarized with its electric vector perpendicular to the plane of incidence.Therefore, the correct option is:Option 2: Reflected light is polarised with its electric vector perpendicular to the plane of incidence.
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