Unpolarised light is incident from the air on a plane surface of a material of refractive index . At a particular angle of incidence , it is found that the reflected and refracted rays are perpendicular to each other. Which of the following options is correct for this situation?
the reflected light is polarised with its electric vector parallel to the plane of incidence.
the reflected light is polarised with its electric vector perpendicular to the plane of incidence.
When unpolarised light is incident at a particular angle such that the reflected and refracted rays are perpendicular to each other, this angle of incidence is called Brewster's angle (). According to Brewster's law, . At this angle, the reflected light is completely plane-polarised, and its electric field vector is perpendicular to the plane of incidence.
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