The Polarization of Light and Malus’  Law Using Smartphones

Martín Monteiro ^[1] ; Cecilia Stari ^[2] ; Cecilia Cabeza ^[2] ; Arturo C. Martí ^[2]
1. [1] Universidad Ort Uruguay
  
  Universidad Ort Uruguay
  
  Uruguay
2. [2] Universidad de la República
  
  Universidad de la República
  
  Uruguay
Localización: The Physics Teacher, ISSN 0031-921X, Vol. 55, Nº. 5, 2017, págs. 264-266
Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
- Originally an empirical law, nowadays Malus’ law is seen as a key experiment to demonstrate the transverse nature of electromagnetic waves, as well as the intrinsic connection between optics and electromagnetism. In this work, a simple and inexpensive setup is proposed to quantitatively verify the nature of polarized light. A flat computer screen serves as a source of linear polarized light and a smartphone (possessing ambient light and orientation sensors) is used, thanks to its built-in sensors, to experiment with polarized light and verify Malus’ law.