Limitations of Malus Law

There are some limitations of this law in real life:

Ideal Polarizers: Malus’s Law assumes that the polarizer used is ideal, meaning it completely absorbs or blocks the perpendicular component of the electric field and only allows the parallel component to pass through without any loss. In reality, no polarizer is perfect, and there can be some attenuation of the transmitted light and minor transmission of the blocked component.

Monochromatic and Coherent Light: The law is derived under the assumption that the light is monochromatic (single wavelength) and coherent. When dealing with polychromatic (multi-wavelength) or incoherent light, the behavior might differ, and the law may not hold precisely.

Read More,

Malus Law

Malus Law, also known as Malus Law of Polarization, is a fundamental principle in optics that describes how the intensity of polarized light changes as it passes through a polarizer. It is named after Étienne-Louis Malus, a French physicist who formulated the law in 1808.

In this article, we will discuss the concept of Malus Law which describes the intensity of change in the intensity of polarized light.

Table of Content