A LevelPhysicsCIETopic Questions7. Waves7.5 Polarisation

Syllabus Edition

First teaching 2023

First exams 2025

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Polarisation (CIE A Level Physics)

Topic Questions

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1
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The following are statements about waves. Which statement below describes a situation in which polarisation would not happen?

  • microwaves pass through a metal grid

  • sound waves pass through a metal grid

  • light waves are reflected

  • light waves are scattered

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2
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A student looked at the liquid crystal display on their calculator with a polarising film. They observed that as they rotated the film, the display changed.

 Which property of the radiation from the calculator display is described correctly?

  • the emitted radiation is a transverse wave

  • the emitted radiation is a wave with 3 cm wavelength

  • the emitted radiation is unpolarised

  • the emitted radiation is a longitudinal wave

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3
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Which of the following waves can be polarised?

  • transverse

  • progressive

  • stationary

  • longitudinal

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4
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Malus’s law shows the intensity of polarised light as it emerges through an analyser. Which is the correct equation to calculate the intensity?

  • I subscript 0 sin squared theta

  • I subscript 0 space cos squared space theta

  • I subscript 0 cos space theta

  • I subscript 0 over 2 space cos squared space theta

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5
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A polarised light beam emerges from a polariser. It is then transmitted onto an analyser, which is at angle ? to the polariser.

What does the value of the angle ? need to be, so that the light emerging from the analyser is at maximum intensity?

  • 45°

  • 90°

  • 180°

  • 270°

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1
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A beam of unpolarised light is incident on the first of two parallel polarisers. The transmission axis of the two polarisers are initially parallel.

The first polariser is now rotated about the direction of the incident beam by an angle smaller than 90°.

 Which row in the table describes the changes to the intensity and polarisation of the transmitted light?

 

Intensity

Polarisation

A

B

C

D

no change

no change

different

different

no change

different

different

no change

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2
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Unpolarised light is incident on the surface of a transparent medium. The reflected light is completely plane polarised.

 Which option correctly describes the refracted light?

  • partially plane polarised

  • completely plane polarised parallel to the reflected light

  • unpolarised

  • completely plane polarised at right angles to the reflected light

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3
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Unpolarised light of intensity I0 is incident on a polariser that has a vertical transmission axis, as shown in the diagram below.

cie-ial-images351png

Which graph shows the intensity of the transmitted light ?

cie-ial-physics-mcq-7-2-q23

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4
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Plane-polarised light of amplitude a is passed through a polarising filter. The amplitude of the light emerging is a cos θ.

 The intensity of the incident ray is I

 What is the intensity of the emerging light when θ is 60˚?

  • 0.866 I

  • 0.750 I

  • 0.500 I

  • 0.250 I

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5
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A person wearing polarising sunglasses stands at the edge of a pond in bright sunlight.

cie-ial-images356png

The surface of the pond is flat, and the person has a line of sight to the surface of angle θ. The refractive index of the pond water is n.

 What is the value of θ for which the light would be a minimum when it reaches the persons eye?

  • tan to the power of negative 1 end exponent open parentheses 1 over n close parentheses

  • cos to the power of negative 1 end exponent open parentheses 1 over n close parentheses

  • tan to the power of negative 1 end exponent open parentheses n close parentheses

  • cos to the power of negative 1 end exponent open parentheses n close parentheses

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6
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Unpolarised light is incident on a polariser. The light transmitted by the first polariser is then incident on a second polariser. The polarising axis of the second sheet is 60˚ to that of the first.

 The intensity emerging from the second polariser is I2.

 Which of the following gives the intensity incident on the first polariser?

  • I subscript 2 over 4

  • I subscript 2 over 8

  • 8 I subscript 2

  • 4 I subscript 2

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7
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A vertical aerial transmits radio waves that have been plane-polarised. The receiving aerial is tilted from the vertical at an angle θ. The emitted wave is in a plane perpendicular to the direction of arrival and arrive with an amplitude A.

 Which of the following expressions is proportional to the power delivered by the aerial?

  •  A space cos space theta

  • A squared space c o s to the power of 2 space end exponent theta

  • Z e r o

  • A squared space sin squared space theta

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8
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Unpolarised light of intensity I0 is incident on the first of two polarising sheets. Initially the planes of polarisation of the sheets are perpendicular.

 Which sheet must be rotated and by what angle θ, so that light intensity  I subscript 0 over 4   can emerge from the second sheet ?

 

Rotated sheet

Angle θ of rotation

A

1 or 2

 cos to the power of negative 1 end exponent 1 half

B

1 or 2

 cos to the power of negative 1 end exponent fraction numerator square root of 2 over denominator 2 end fraction

C

2 only

 cos to the power of 1 space 1 half

D

1 only

 cos to the power of negative 1 end exponent fraction numerator square root of 2 over denominator 2 end fraction

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9
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The diagram below shows a ray of unpolarised light with an intensity of 72 W m−2 passing through three polarising films, P1, P2 and P3.

 cie-ial-images359png

The polarising axis of each polarising film is shown by an arrow. The polarising film P1 and P2 are fixed, with their axis of polarisation at 30˚ to one each other.

 If the light emerging from the third filter has an intensity of 13.5 W m−2 what is angle θ ?

  • 60°

  • 90°

  • 30°

  • 45°

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10
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The angle between a polariser and analyser is 30°. The intensity of light transmitted by the analyser is greater that the intensity transmitted by the polariser.

 How much smaller is the intensity transmitted?

  • 1 half

  • 3 over 4

  • 1 fourth

  • 0

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1
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A linearly polarised electromagnetic beam has an intensity of 16 W m–2 with an angle of incidence of 45° to the vertical.

 What is the intensity of the transmitted beam?

  • 20 W m–2

  • 12 W m–2

  • 16 W m–2

  • 8 W m–2

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2
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Unpolarised light of intensity I0 is incident on a polariser with a vertical transmission axis. The transmitted light is incident on a sheet of material X. After transmission through X the intensity of light is I subscript 0 over 2

 It is suggested that X could be

1

a polariser with a vertical transmission axis

2

a polariser with a horizontal transmission axis

3

non-polarising glass

  • 1 & 2

  • 2 & 3

  • 1 & 3

  • 3 only

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3
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The quality of the sound produced by a portable radio can be improved by changing the orientation of the aerial.

 Which statement will correctly describe the explanation of this improvement?

  • the radio waves become polarised as a result of adjusting the aerial

  • the radio waves become unpolarised as a result of adjusting the aerial

  • the radio waves from the transmitter are unpolarised

  • the radio waves from the transmitter are polarised

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4
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Unpolarised light of intensity I is incident upon a polariser. The light is then transmitted to a second polariser and then a third. The polarisers have the same orientation.

Which statement is true?

  • The intensity of the light emerging from the second polariser is 1 fourth I

  • The intensity of the light emerging from the second polariser is 2 I

  • The intensity of the light emerging from the third polariser is 1 over 8 I

  • The intensity of the light emerging from the third polariser is 1 half I

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5
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Unpolarised light of intensity 8 W m-2 is incident upon a polariser. The light is then transmitted to a second polariser at an angle of 25° to that of the first polariser.

What is the intensity of the light beam emerging from the second?

  • 1.6 W m-2

  • 3.3 W m-2

  • 3.6 W m-2

  • 6.6 W m-2

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