Polarization

1. Polarization • Only transverse waves can be “sorted” using polarizers • Polarizers only allow waves vibrating in the direction of their openings to get through

2. Uses of Polarization • Reduction of glare • Concentrating radio signals • Chemistry, geology, navigation, etc.

3. Polarized 3D Glasses • Your eyes see 3D because they are spaced apart • Each eye sees a slightly different image • Your brain interprets how the images go together • 3D movies involve two slightly different views of the movie shown at once • Polarized 3D lenses allow each eye to only see one of the views • Your brain then puts together what the eyes are seeing

4. Colored 3D Glasses • Instead of using polarized lenses, a red and a cyan lens can be used to see a moving in 3D • The two different views of the movie that are shown simultaneously are colored red and cyan • Each lens filters out one of the views, so each eye only sees one of the views • Then your brain does the rest of the work.

5. Curved Mirrors • Curved mirror can change the size of an image • Concave mirrors make images smaller or larger • Convex mirrors make images smaller (security mirrors)

6. Holograms • Concave mirrors can produce images in front of the mirror • All of the light converges at points in front of the mirror causing the image to form there

7. Optical Fibers • flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much thicker than a human hair • Light gets “trapped” inside of the fibers because of total internal reflection. • The light bounces off the sides of the fiber at angles larger than the critical angles causing it to stay inside the fiber