Chapter 27, Problem 46A

Why do Polaroid sunglasses reduce glare, whereas unpolarized sunglasses simply cut down on the total amount of light reaching our eyes?

To determine

Polaroid sunglasses reduced glare, whereas unpolarized sunglasses simply cut down on the total amount of light reaching our eyes, the reason behind this is to be explained.

Explanation of Solution

Introduction:

Light wave has a transverse wave nature. The light wave particles are travel in horizontal as well as vertical directions to the direction of motion of the wave. The light particles are vibrating in the horizontal direction in a horizontally polarized light. Similarly, particles are vibrating in a vertical direction in vertically polarized light.

The light wave particles are travel along the direction of the motion of the wave. Glare consisting of polarized light largely in the plane of the reflecting surface. Generally, most of the glaring surfaces are horizontal. Therefore the glare of horizontally polarized light is filtered by the sunglasses with vertical polarization axes. With the help of reflecting or absorbing incident light, the unpolarized sunglasses simply cut down on complete light transmission.

Conclusion:

By bouncing the light from sunglasses, the polarized light reduces glare while unpolarized sunglasses absorb the sunlight.