what is polarized light?

[greenseeking]

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Hi, Just a general question-

What is polarized light and what is it used for? For ex, an l-molecule will rotate plane polarized light counterclockwise... But are polarized lights used in any other way?

For example, what happens if you use a polarized light in a lense/mirror problem as opposed to just a regular old "transverse light wave?"

 

[doy]

Light which is an EM transverse wave like you stated, travels in many planes so it is unpolarized.
In order to make it polarized, you would need to pass it through a filter that would allow it to only travel in one plane, one direction.
For example: Have you ever seen polarized filters on computers in let's say a hospital? It is a black screen that only allows a person that is directly sitting in front of the computer to see the screen. If standing at any other angles, you can not see the screen because the filter is not allowing the light to travel in that direction.

 

[greenseeking]

Thanks! That was a great explanation.