Polarization – Question

1. If you look into a fish pond on a bright sunny day, you sometimes cannot see the fish because of
the glare of light reflected off the surface. When the sunlight is reflected off the surface of the
water it is partially plane-polarised.

(a) State the difference between plane-polarised and unpolarised light.

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(1)

(b) Explain how Polaroid sunglasses can enable the fish to be seen.

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(3)

(c) State why sound waves cannot be polarised.

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(1)
(Total 5 marks)

2. Which of the following properties could not be demonstrated using sound waves?

A diffraction

B polarisation

C reflection

D refraction
(Total 1 mark)

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3. A student looks at the sunlight reflected off a puddle of water. She puts a polarising (Polaroid)
filter in front of her eye. As she rotates the filter the puddle appears darker then lighter.

Explain this observation.

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(Total 3 marks)

4. (a) Explain with the aid of diagrams why transverse waves can be polarised but longitudinal
ones cannot be polarised.

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(3)

(b) Describe with the aid of a diagram how you could demonstrate that light can be polarised.

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(3)
(Total 6 marks)

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5. (a) Describe how you would demonstrate that light waves can be polarised. Include a
diagram of the apparatus that you would use. Describe fully what you would observe.

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(5)

(b) State why it is not possible to polarise sound waves.

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(1)
(Total 6 marks)

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6. At night, particles in the atmosphere scatter moonlight causing it to become plane polarised.

(a) What is meant by the term plane polarised?

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(2)

(b) Scientists have discovered recently that the dung beetle can navigate using polarised
moonlight. The beetles hunt for fresh dung. When they find some each beetle makes a
small ball. To keep this ball for itself it needs to remove it quickly. The beetle pushes the
ball along with its back legs while moving with its front legs and keeping its head down.
Using the plane of the polarised moonlight as a guide lets the beetle run away in a straight
line.

The beetles have sensors in their eyes which act as polarising filters.

Describe and explain the effect of rotating a polarising filter in front of a source of plane
polarised light.

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(c) Scientists held a polarising filter over one of the beetles as it was retreating with a dung
ball. The filter changed the polarisation plane by 90°.

Suggest how the beetle responded.

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(d) Suggest what would happen to the beetles on nights when the moon is not visible.

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(1)
(Total 7 marks)

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7. (a) Explain with the aid of a diagram why transverse waves can be plane polarised but
longitudinal waves cannot be plane polarised.

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(3)

(b) (i) A filament lamp is observed directly and then through a sheet of Polaroid. Describe
and explain the effect of the sheet of Polaroid on the intensity of the light seen.

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(2)

(ii) The sheet of Polaroid is now rotated in a plane perpendicular to the direction of
travel of the light. What effect, if any, will this have on the intensity of the light
seen?

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(1)
(Total 6 marks)

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8. When the Moon is full, bright moonlight makes it difficult for astronomers to study the stars.
Moonlight is scattered by atoms in the atmosphere causing it to become plane polarised.

Draw labelled diagrams to show how the polarised light differs from unpolarised light.

Polarised light Unpolarised light

(2)

Explain how an astronomer’s telescope could be adapted to overcome the problem of the bright
moonlight.

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(2)
(Total 4 marks)

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9. The Raman effect can be used to identify the chemical composition of solid materials in a
non-destructive manner, e.g. to identify fake diamonds. When laser light is shone on a material
some of the light is scattered. The scattered light will be plane polarised and some of it will have
been frequency shifted (that is, it will have undergone a change in frequency). This happens
when the light interacts with the vibrating atoms in the materials. Analysis of these Raman
frequency shifts reveals the chemical composition of the material.

What is meant by plane polarised light?

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(2)

Some of the light will have been frequency shifted by the moving atoms. Name the
phenomenon which caused the frequency shifting and briefly explain how it arises.

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(4)

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The Raman frequency shifts are often measured in wavenumbers. Wavenumber is defined as
1
.
wavelength

When laser light of wavelength 1064 nm is shone onto diamond, the scattered light has a Raman
wavenumber shift of +1300 cm–1.

Show that the frequency of this scattered light is about 3 × 1014 Hz.

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(5)

A student correctly remarks that if the frequency of the laser light has changed then its energy
must have changed.

State which model of light is being used by this student, and explain what must have happened
to the vibrating atoms in the diamond during this interaction.

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(3)
(Total 14 marks)

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10. The screen of a laptop computer makes use of polarised light.

Draw labelled diagrams to show what is meant by unpolarised and plane polarised light.

(2)

The screen contains a polarising filter. The dark parts of an image are formed where polarised
light is blocked by this filter; the light parts are where unpolarised light gets through.

As a security measure, the images on the screen can be made invisible by removing the
polarising filter from the front of the screen.

State the appearance of a computer screen whose polarising filter has been removed.

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Explain your answer.

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The computer operator would wear glasses containing polarising lenses. The glasses can do the
same job as the polarising filter. State and explain what a computer operator wearing the glasses
would observe if he tilted his head from side to side while looking at the screen.

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It has been suggested that this security measure could be defeated by anyone wearing a pair of
simple 3-dimensional movie glasses. These have a horizontal polarising filter on one eye and a
vertical filter on the other.

Comment on this suggestion.

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(2)
(Total 8 marks)

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11. An advertisement for sunglasses claims:

ELIMINATE GLARE WITH POLARISING SUNGLASSES

Glare is created when bright sunlight reflects off horizontal surfaces, such
as roads. Polarising sunglasses are special sunglasses that eliminate
99.9% of this type of glare by only letting in light at a certain angle or in
a certain direction.

Use diagrams to explain the difference between polarised and unpolarised light.

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In physics terms what does the advertisement mean by ‘light at a certain angle or in a certain
direction’?

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(1)

What is the evidence in this advertisement that ‘glare’ consists of polarised light?

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(1)

Normally sunglasses are worn so as to eliminate glare. Explain what would happen if the
sunglasses were turned through 90°.

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(2)
(Total 6 marks)

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12. Explain what is meant by the term polarisation when referring to light.

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Sugar is produced from plants such as sugar cane. The stems are crushed and the juice extracted.
The concentration of sugar in the juice is used to value the crop.

The concentration can be determined using polarised light.

Explain how to measure the angle of rotation of polarised light when it passes through a sugar
solution.

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(4)

A student has carried out this experiment and obtains three results. He has plotted them on the
graph below. He takes three more results and tabulates them.

Angle of rotation/degrees Concentration of solution/

kg per litre
17 0.25
33 0.50
50 0.75

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Add these results to the graph.
(3)

60
Angle / degree

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Concentration of solution / kg per litre

Use your graph to determine the concentration of an unknown sample which gives a rotation
of 38.

Concentration: .................................................................................................... kg per litre

(1)
(Total 10 marks)

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13. A photographer uses a polarising filter over the camera lens. She notices that the intensity of the
light received from the blue sky changes as she rotates the filter.

What does this suggest about light from the sky?

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(1)

Explain the change in intensity as the filter is rotated.

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(2)

The use of a polarising filter makes a blue sky appear darker, but the clouds remain bright.

Suggest why there is little change in the intensity of the light from the clouds.

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(1)

Astronomers notice the same effect with the radio waves emitted by some galaxies.
What does this suggest about these radio waves?

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(1)

State why radio waves should behave in the same way as light.

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(1)
(Total 6 marks)

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1. (a) n = sin 48 / sin 30 1

n = 1.5 (common answer will be 1.49) 1

(n = 0.67 scores 1 mark for idea of ratio of sin of angles)

(b) (i) QWC – spelling of technical terms must be correct and the answer
must be organised in a logical sequence

As x increases, y increases
OR
At a certain angle / critical angle, y = 90° / the light travels along the
boundary (do not allow reflects at 90°) 1

For angles greater than the critical angle (in glass) 1

total internal reflection occurs 1

(do not accept TIR)

(ii) Use of sin c = 1/n 1

c = 42° 1

ecf n from (a) unless n= 0.67 which scores 0 here

[7]

2. C
[1]

3. A
[1]

4. B
[1]

5. Direction of travel of light is water → air (1)

Angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle (1) 2
[2]

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