Please wait for the animation to completely load.

The animation shows a wave incident on a polarizer (with the direction indicated by the black line). Click-drag to the right or left to rotate about the z axis. Click-drag up or down to rotate in the xy plane. You can use the slider to change the polarization of the incoming linear wave. This also changes the amplitude of the exiting wave. Restart.

1. Develop an expression for the amplitude of the exiting wave as a function of the initial amplitude and the polarization angle.
2. Develop an expression for the energy transmitted through the polarizer as a function of polarization and the incident energy.

Problem authored by Anne J. Cox.