Question

While direct sunlight is unpolarized, light coming from a clear blue sky is linearly polarized to some extent. Assume all the light from the blue sky is linearly polarized in the same direction. Suppose a school library has installed skylight windows in the ceiling of the atrium to allow for natural lighting. The windows are polarized so that the intensity of light from the polarized blue sky is reduced by 58%. What is the angle between the polarization direction of the light and the polarization axis of the windows? __________°

Answer 1

SOLUTION::

Let Io be the intensity of light from blue sky

I = Io*cos^2(θ)

0.58 * Io = Io*cos^2(θ)

cos(θ) = sqrt(0.58)

cos(θ) = 0.7615

  θ = 40.40 °