Polarization

Only transverse waves can be “sorted” using polarizers

Polarizers only allow waves vibrating in the direction of their openings to get through

Uses of Polarization

Reduction of glare Concentrating radio signals Chemistry, geology, navigation, etc.

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

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.

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)

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

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