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Can you tell? 7.7.2 · Q1

Q.If you look at the sky in a particular direction through a polaroid and rotate the polaroid around that direction, what will you see?

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✓ Free question

The brightness of the sky changes as you rotate the polaroid, showing that scattered skylight is partially polarized (most strongly at 90° to the Sun).

Light from the blue sky is scattered sunlight, and scattering partially polarizes it — most strongly in directions at right angles to the Sun. So as you rotate a polaroid while looking at such a patch of sky, the sky appears alternately brighter and darker, confirming that the skylight is partially plane polarized.

✓Final answer

The brightness of the sky changes as you rotate the polaroid, showing that scattered skylight is partially polarized (most strongly at 90° to the Sun).

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