WHAT IS POLARIZED LIGHT?
Light is typically emitted in all directions and with different orientations; that is to say that a light wave may be oriented with the electric component of the electromagnetic wave vibrating up and down or vertically, while in other instances the light might vibrate horizontally or even diagonally. Regardless of the orientation, these light waves are not polarized. To be polarized, all the light waves must be oriented in the same direction. For example, vertically polarized light has its waves all aligned in up and down vibrations. Non-polarized light produces glare, which can be a distraction when driving, skiing, or taking pictures.
As you probably know, light has both wave and particle properties. Polarized light is a product of the wave-like nature of light. Imagine a bunch of light waves coming at you, some are oscillating up and down, others left and right and others in-between. Now imagine you put up a vertical grate (like bars on a window) that was small enough to stop the ‘side to side’ vibrations, but allowed the vertical ones through (kind of like if you were very skinny and could slip through the vertical bars on your jail cell, but couldn’t get through them if you layed horizontally!) The light at the other side of the grate would be “polarized”, ie all the light would have the same orientation (in this case, vertical). If you have a pair of polarized sunnies on, then only the vertically oriented light gets through. Imagine light hitting water – it actually works like skimming rocks – the vertical light goes straight into the water but the horizontal light bounces easily back up into your eyes. Therefor
Ambient light or the light we use to see is comprised of light waves that vibrate in an infinite number of directions. Quite often however, these light waves are reflected off of flat or shiny surfaces. These reflective surfaces concentrate the light causing the vibrations of these light waves to travel in the same direction as opposed to being scattered in a random fashion. These unidirectional waves which are much more intense are what are known as “polarized” light waves. These polarized waves are many times brighter than non-polarized light and are otherwise known as “glare”.
