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Article: polarization of light
- Article from:
- The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
CopyrightThe Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information)
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polarization of light orientation of the vibration pattern of light waves in a singular plane.
Characteristics of Polarization
Polarization is a phenomenon peculiar to transverse waves, i.e., waves that vibrate in a direction perpendicular to their direction of propagation. Light is a transverse electromagnetic wave (see
electromagnetic radiation
). Thus a light wave traveling forward can vibrate up and down (in the vertical plane), from side to side (in the horizontal plane), or in an intermediate direction. Ordinarily a ray of light consists of a mixture of waves vibrating in all the directions perpendicular to its line of propagation. If for some reason the vibration remains ...
Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:
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Article: Japanese Inventors Develop Linearly Polarized Light ...
US Fed News Service, Including US State News;
August 22, 2008 ;
519 words
... ... from Hachioji, Japan, have developed a light polarizing monochromator. According to ... hypotenuse is an input-output face, where light enters and exits, and a face including ... output face of the prism with respect to light coming from a collimator optical system ...
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