Class 12 Physics simulations · Wave Optics

Polarisation and Malus’s law

Rotate an analyser after a polariser and watch the transmitted light fade.

Open the simulation

What to notice

Crossed transmission axes block ideal polarised light. Unpolarised light loses half its intensity at the first polariser.

Key relation

I = I₀ cos²θ after a polariser

Try this

Compare aligned, 45°, and crossed analyser positions.

What you can change

• Unpolarised input intensity: 20 to 100 units
• Angle between axes: 0 to 180 °

More in Wave Optics

• Brewster’s angle
• Single slit diffraction
• Diffraction grating orders
• Double slit interference
• Fringe width in Young’s experiment
• Resolving two stars (Rayleigh criterion)
• Thin-film interference

See all Class 12 Physics simulations or every Physica simulation.