Physics - Polarisation
OCR A-Level Physics 2022
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Flashcards
What polarisation means
What is polarisation?
Where particles in a wave are oscillating in one direction only.
What does it mean for a wave to be plane polarised?
Where the particles in the wave are oscillating along a single plane.
What does it mean for a wave to be partially polarised?
Where most of the particles in a wave are oscillating along a single plane.
What does a polarising filter do?
Only allow oscillations that are in a certain direction.
Examples and which waves can be polarised
Why can’t you polarise a sound wave?
Because you can’t polarise a longitudinal wave.
What are some examples of how light can become polarised?
- Reflection off water
- Reflection off glass
What process does this show?Polarisation of electromagnetic waves
What is confusing about the polarisation of electromagnetic waves?
It is the opposite to what you’d expect.
Why is the polarisation of electromagnetic waves opposite to what you would expect?
Because the waves are absorbed when they cause charges going up and down the filter.