Physics, asked by harpreet8747, 1 year ago

Write the relation between polarising and refractive index

Answers

Answered by Anonymous
4
I am not sure exactly what you mean, but I’m guessing it’s about “birefringence”. Some “anisotropic” crystals, such as Iceland Spar (a form of calcite), show “birefringence” (double refraction). That means a particular crystal has two different refractive indices. It’s because the crystal structure, at the atomic level, is not the same in all directions (anisotropy).

An unpolarised light ray entering the crystal is split into two polarised rays (with planes of polarisation mutually at right angles). The light follows two different paths through the crystal, depending on the plane of polarisation. So, these sorts of crystals show two refractive indices, depending on the plane of polarisation of the light.

If you want more technical details (with diagrams) this page is a nice summary of light polarisation, including double refraction:

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