Question

For one approach to this problem, consult Interactive LearningWare 24.1. For each of the three sheets of polarizing material shown in the drawing, the orientation of the transmission axis is labeled relative to the vertical. The incident beam of light is unpolarized and has an intensity of 1230 W/m2. What is the intensity of the beam transmitted through the three sheets when 1 = 15.2°, 2 = 53.2°, and 3 = 95.4°?

Answer 1

To solve this problem, you need to know Malus's Law according to which when completely plane polarized light is incident on the analyzer, the intensity I of the light transmitted by the analyzer is directly proportional to the square of the cosine of angle between the transmission axes of the analyzer and the polarizer, i.e.

You also need to know the fact that when an unpolarized light first enters a polarizer, its intensity drops by half.

Now, the final intensity would be

Hope this helps.