An unpolarised light beam strikes a glass surface at Brewster's angle. Then
- The reflected light will be partially polarised.
- The refracted light will be completely polarised.
- Both the reflected and refracted light will be completely polarised.
- The reflected light will be completely polarised but the refracted light will be partially polarised.
Answer
(4) The reflected light will be completely polarised but the refracted light will be partially polarised.
Solution
At Brewster's angle ( iB = ) the reflected and refracted rays are perpendicular to each other.
The reflected light contains only vibrations perpendicular to the plane of incidence, so it is completely plane polarised.
The refracted light contains all the parallel component and the rest of the perpendicular component, so it is only partially polarised.
Answer: (4)