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Chapter 22: Problem 54

Just after sunrise, you look straight up at the sky. Is the light you see polarized? If so, in what direction?

Short Answer

Expert verified
If so, what is the direction of polarization? Answer: Yes, the sunlight seen when looking straight up at the sky just after sunrise is polarized. The direction of polarization is horizontal.

Step by step solution

01

Understand the situation

The situation describes looking straight up at the sky just after sunrise. This means that the sunlight is shining from close to the horizon while the observer is looking directly overhead (90° from the horizon).
02

Recall the relationship between polarization and scattering

Polarization of light occurs when light waves vibrate in a particular direction. In the atmosphere, the scattering of sunlight by particles in the atmosphere (e.g., gas molecules, dust, and aerosols) can cause polarization. Rayleigh scattering is responsible for the polarization of sunlight, where shorter wavelengths are scattered more than longer wavelengths causing the sky to appear blue.
03

Identify the condition for maximum polarization at 90-degree scattering angle

Maximum polarization of the scattered light occurs when the observer is positioned at a 90-degree angle with respect to the incident sunlight. In our case where we are looking straight up, the angle between the observer and the sunlight is 90 degrees.
04

Determine the direction of polarization

When the scattering angle is 90 degrees, the direction of polarization is perpendicular to the plane formed by the sunlight and the observer's line of sight. In this case, since the observer is looking straight up at the 90-degree angle, the plane formed by the sunlight and the observer's line of sight is parallel to the horizon. Therefore, the direction of polarization will be horizontal. To summarize, the sunlight you see when looking straight up at the sky just after sunrise is polarized, and the direction of polarization is horizontal.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

An AM radio station broadcasts at \(570 \mathrm{kHz}\). (a) What is the wavelength of the radio wave in air? (b) If a radio is tuned to this station and the inductance in the tuning circuit is \(0.20 \mathrm{mH},\) what is the capacitance in the tuning circuit? (c) In the vicinity of the radio, the amplitude of the electric field is \(0.80 \mathrm{V} / \mathrm{m} .\) The radio uses a coil antenna of radius \(1.6 \mathrm{cm}\) with 50 turns. What is the maximum emf induced in the antenna, assuming it is oriented for best reception? Assume that the fields are sinusoidal functions of time.
An unpolarized beam of light (intensity \(I_{0}\) ) is moving in the \(x\) -direction. The light passes through three ideal polarizers whose transmission axes are (in order) at angles \(0.0^{\circ}, 45.0^{\circ},\) and \(30.0^{\circ}\) counterclockwise from the \(y\) -axis in the \(y z\) -plane. (a) What is the intensity and polarization of the light that is transmitted by the last polarizer? (b) If the polarizer in the middle is removed, what is the intensity and polarization of the light transmitted by the last polarizer?
The radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, has a diameter of $305 \mathrm{m}$. It can detect radio waves from space with intensities as small as \(10^{-26} \mathrm{W} / \mathrm{m}^{2} .\) (a) What is the average power incident on the telescope due to a wave at normal incidence with intensity \(1.0 \times 10^{-26} \mathrm{W} / \mathrm{m}^{2} ?\) (b) What is the average power incident on Earth's surface? (c) What are the rms electric and magnetic fields?
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The electric field of an EM wave is given by \(E_{z}=\) $E_{\mathrm{m}} \sin (k y-\omega t+\pi / 6), E_{x}=0,\( and \)E_{z}=0 .$ (a) In what direction is this wave traveling? (b) Write expressions for the components of the magnetic field of this wave.
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