All Problems

Polarization of Light

Problem 5.191

Natural monochromatic light falls on a system of two crossed Nicol prisms between which a quartz plate cut at right angles to its optical axis is inserted. Find the minimum thickness of the plate at which this system will transmit \(\eta=0.30\) of luminous flux if the specific rotation constant of quartz is equal to \(\alpha=17\) ang.deg/mm.

Reveal Answer
dmin=(1/α)arcsin2η=3.0 mmd_{\min }=(1 / \alpha) \arcsin \sqrt{2 \eta}=3.0 \mathrm{~mm}