Properties of light that can be best explained by the wave theory include interference, diffraction, and polarization. Wave theory describes how light waves can interact with each other to produce interference patterns, how they bend around obstacles and spread out when passing through small openings (diffraction), and how their oscillations can be oriented in specific directions (polarization).
A polarization experiment demonstrates that light is a transverse wave composed of oscillating electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to the direction of propagation. It also shows that light waves are polarized, meaning the electric field oscillates in a specific orientation. This experiment helps to study the wave nature of light and confirm the wave theory of light propagation.
Huygens' wave theory of light cannot explain phenomena like polarization and interference accurately. It also fails to predict some experimental observations, such as the photoelectric effect. Additionally, the theory could not fully account for the speed of light in a vacuum.
A half wave plate changes the orientation of the polarization of light by rotating it by 90 degrees.
The polarization of light is best supported by the wave model of light, which describes light as an electromagnetic wave with oscillating electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to the direction of propagation. In the wave model, polarization occurs when the electric field oscillates in a specific orientation, leading to light waves that are aligned in a particular way. This model explains how polarizing filters can selectively block certain orientations of light waves, demonstrating the wave-like nature of light.
polarization
Light demonstrates wave characteristics when it undergoes phenomena such as interference, diffraction, and polarization. These behaviors are consistent with light behaving as a wave rather than a particle.
A wave plate is an optical device that changes the polarization of light. It does this by altering the phase difference between the two perpendicular components of light waves. This change in phase causes the light to be polarized in a specific direction when it passes through the wave plate.
The Compton effect supports the particle theory of light, as it demonstrates that photons (particles of light) can interact with matter like particles and exhibit particle-like behavior by transferring momentum to electrons during scattering. This is not consistent with the wave theory of light, which views light as a continuous wave rather than individual particles.
The photoelectric effect does not support the wave nature of light. This phenomenon can only be explained by the particle nature of light, as described by Albert Einstein in his theory of photons.
Thomas Young is the scientist who proposed in 1801 that light is a wave, using his double-slit experiment to support this theory.
That is correct. Polarization is possible only when the direction of vibration is perpendicular to the direction of the wave travel, such is in light. In sound waves, the direction of vibration (compression) is the same direction as the direction of the travel of the sound wave, and therefore polarization is not possible.