paper

The polarization of light and the Malus' law using smartphones

arXiv:1607.02659 · doi:10.1119/1.4981030

Abstract

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 the Malus' law.

5 pages, 3 figures, in this version the manuscript has been reorganized and several typos have been corrected

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