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The Magic of Polarizer Filter
Are the sunglasses the same? One kind of sunglasses will make the light less dazzling. It can even help the fisherman to see the situation under the water more clearly. We call it polarized sunglasses. However, what is polarized light?
We know that general light is not polarized, that is, its electric field oscillates perpendicular to the forward direction, but does not follow any particular direction; however, if polarized light is an incident, we can use a polarizing lens block this light completely.
Therefore, if the sunlight reflected from the surface of an object is polarized, we can block this sunlight with a polarizer film at a specific angle. If you drive towards the afternoon sun, the reflected light from the road will be strongly polarized and parallel to the road. At this time, wearing polarized sunglasses will block the polarized glare and let only the vertically polarized light to enter.
On a microscopic scale, this blocking effect means that the long molecules in the filter are aligned horizontally and will absorb light with horizontal polarization (the electric field also oscillates horizontally). Therefore, most of the dazzling reflections have been eliminated, but the brightness of other surrounding objects is not decreased. This is the principle of polarized sunglasses.
The fisherman uses polarized sunglasses to reduce the sunlight reflected on the water surface, but still sees the light reflected by the fish, the same principle. For unpolarized sunlight, the reflected light is mainly horizontally polarized light.
However, the light reflected from the fish is not polarized light, so as long as the fisherman wears polarized sunglasses that can block horizontally polarized light, the light reflected from the fish will pass through the fisherman’s polarized sunglasses, so the fisherman can see a fish when you can’t see the glare of the water. However, if the depth of the fish is more than 1.5 meters, the above explanation is not completely correct, because, above this depth, small particles suspended in water will scatter light, making the light become horizontally polarized light.
Polarized lenses are also used in entertainment. The so-called stereoscopic film is to use polarizing lenses to make the left and right eyes receive light with different polarization directions, respectively, so as to cause a difference in viewing angle, so a stereo effect appears. The picture on the right is the “stereo glasses” necessary for watching a stereo movie, which is just a combination of two polarizer film filters with different polarization directions.
Sebastian was born and raised in the busy city of Abbottabad. As a journalist, Saad Mushtaq has contributed to many online publications including the PAK Today and the Huffing Post. In regards to academics, Saad Mushtaq earned a degree in business from the Abbottabad UST, Havelian. Saad Mushtaq follows the money and covers all aspects of emerging tech here at The Hear Up.Thanks
