4.

2 MALUS LAW EXPERIMENT

1.1. AIM
1. To verify malus law

1.2 PRINCIPLE
When a light beam passes through a polarizer filter, it gets linearly polarized. When
this linearly polarized light passes through analyzer, its intensity depends on the
angular position of the analyzer. The maximum light intensity is transmitted when the
optical axis of polarizer and analyzer coincide. The intensity of transmitted beam
depends on the angular position between the optical axis of the polarizer and analyzer
() and is defined by Malus law as I=I0 cos2 where I0 is the intensity of incident light.
1.3.EQUIPMENTS REQUIRED
Sl. No. Required item Utility
1 Optical bench with riders To mount laser,polarizer,pin hole detector,analyser
2 He-Ne Laser Light source
3 Polarizer To polarize the light
4 Pin hole photo Detector To detect polarized light
5 Output measurement unit Measuring intensity

Kinematic
mount

3
5 3

4 1 2 1
 Figure 1: (a) Experimental Set-up

1.4. PROCEDURE
Two physical quantities need to be measured in this experiment Angle and Intensity.
Make the following table

S.No Physical quantity Measured with Least count

1 Angle
2 Intensity

1. Fix the diode laser in to Kinematic mount.Mount the kinematic mount in to one of the
rider of the optical bench.Connect the diode laser with power supply.
2. Mount the pinhole detector in the 4th rider of the bench.Connect the pinhole detector
with o/p measurement unit.Switch ON the diode laser and detector o/p measurement unit.
3. Adjust position of the rider to get maximum intensity. Mount the polarizer in the 2nd
rider of the bench in such a way that the laser light ,polarizer,and pinhole detector lies in
the same axis. Rotate the polarizer to get maximum intensity.
4. Place the analyzer (2nd polarizer) in between polarizer and pinhole detector and rotate
it to get minimum intensity.
5. Transmission axis of the analyzer is as zero with respect to that of polarizer rotator.
Rotate the analyzer in increments of the 10 from the positionof transmission axis and
note the corresponding output in the photodetector.

2
1.5. TABLE FOR RECORDING
DATA Table 1: Angle vs Intensity observation table

Sl. Angle, Intensit

No. y
() (mA)

Plot the following Graphs

1. Angle () vs Intensity ().

1.6 STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What is the shape of the plot of light intensity versus angle?
2. What is the shape of the plot of light intensity versus cosine of the angle?
3. What is the shape of the plot of light intensity versus cosine 2 of the angle?
1.7 FURTHER SCOPE OF EXPERIMENTS
1.The light intensity of plane polarized light can be measured as a function of analyzer
position.
2. The inverse square law can be verified.(Since the intensity of light depends on the
distance between the source and the detector and is defined by the inverse square law)

1.8 PRECAUTIONS
1. The position of the polarizer should not be disturbed throughout the experiment.
2. The source of light ,polarizer and analyzer should be adjusted to the same height.
3. The experiment should be performed in dark room to avoid any external light.
4. Rotate carefully so that your hand will not come in between the polarizer and o/p
detector.

3
1.9 SOURCES OF ERROR
1. Laser source, polarizer, analyzer might be of different height.
2. Error might occur if the position of polarizer is disturbed.

1.10 THEORY
1. A polarizer only allows light which is vibrating in a particular plane to pass through it.
This plane forms the axis of polarization. Unpolarized light vibrates in all planes
perpendicular to the direction of propagation. If unpolarized light is incident upon an
ideal polarizer, only half will be transmitted through the polarizer. Since in reality no
polarizer is ideal, less than half the light will be transmitted.
2. The transmitted light is polarized in one plane. If this polarized light is incident upon
a second polarizer, the axis of which is oriented such that it is perpendicular to the plane
of polarization of the incident light, no light will be transmitted through the 2nd polarizer.

4
 Figure 1: Polarization

1. However, if the second polarizer is oriented at an angle so that it is not perpendicular

to the first polarizer, there will be some component of the electric field of the polarized
light that lies in the same direction as the axis of the second polarizer, thus some light will
be transmitted through the second polarizer (see the bottom figure). The component, E, of
the polarized electric field, Eo , is found by:
E = Eo cos
Since the intensity of the light varies as the square of the electric field, the light intensity
transmitted through the second filter is given by:

I = Io cos 2
Where Io is the intensity of the light passing
through the first filter and is the angle between
the polarization axes of the 2 filters.

FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES

Text books
Eugene Hecht- Optics 4th edition
K K Sharma- Optics

Internet
study.com/academy/lesson/polarization-by-reflection-brewsters-law.htm

Videos

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILCvDQdiaKs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8trXbutPOA

Bibliography

5
http://www.holmarc.com/malus_law.php
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8trXbutPOA