POLARIZATION KIT

Demo Number	053
Location	Shelf 44
Description	Using this set you can demonstrate both the physical phenomenon of polarization and its use for analyzing stress.
Related Demos
Tips	When you stress the included plastic shapes between the polarizers, they become birefringent and create bright colors and patterns along the lines of internal strain. You can stack the two polarizing sheets attached to the boards on top of an overhead projector (on a cart by shelf 56). There are marble “bearings” to stack them on so you can rotate them and note the change in transmitted intensity. With the two mounted sheets oriented with polarization axes perpendicular, you can then slide one of the loose sheets in between (with its polarization vector at a 45-degree angle to one of the sheets) and note that now light can pass through. There is also a bottle of corn syrup in the box. The sugar molecules in the syrup are optically active and circularly polarizes the light. The thicker sugar will rotate the light through a different angle than the thinner, thus different wavelengths (colors) of light are seen.

Colorado State University