Research Unit in Physics Education – Physics Department - University of Udine
MQUD – WORKSHEET 12
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MQUD – WORKSHEET 12 - Exploration of hypothesis B in the case of birefrangent crystals
HYPOTHESIS B. A beam of photons polarized at 45º is composed on average in equal parts of
photons with the properties  and  of photons with the properties  e *. In symbols :
=
*
*  
It is useful to compare hypothesis B with a situation based solely upon the interaction of light with birefringent
crystals, because the polaroids could have an active role which is greater than the limits predicted with the
analyzer (F3) at 45° for photons prepared from filters with preferred directions H and V respectively.
A. A photon beam strikes the first direct crystal. In correspondence with the exit of the ordinary beam and the
extraordinary beam we place two detectors. Each one activates on average 50% of times, for each of the
incident photons.
A1. We complete the following figures with the frequency with which the detectors will be activated, based
upon the quantity predicted by hypothesis B and based upon the result of the experiment.
Prediction based on hypothesis B
 
 


 

 

Rs
1
Ro
2
Experiment result
….%
delle volte
…%


….%
Rs
delle volte
1
Ro ….%
2
A2. Are there differences between the prediction and the experiment result?
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B. Photons transmitted from the first crystal are made to strike a second birefringent direct crystal, rotated
around the direction of the incident beam at 45°.
The two beams that emerge from the first crystal have polarizations of 45° and 135°, where each photon has
the properties  and . Based upon hypothesis B they must also maintain property .
????
B1.1 How many beams to you expect to observed based upon hypothesis B? ___________________
B1.2 With what polarization? ______________________________________________
B2.1 How many beams are observed in the experiment? ______________
B1.2 With what polarization? ______________________________________________
Research Unit in Physics Education – Physics Department - University of Udine
MQUD – WORKSHEET 12
C. Sketch the experiment situation below.
D. Based upon the result of the comparison with the experiments, what may we conclude about hypothesis
B?
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