Question
To visually examine sunspots through a telescope, astronomers have to reduce the intensity of the sunlight to avoid harming their retinas. They
Step 1
We are given two angles, $\theta_{1} = 28.1^{\circ}$ and $\theta_{2} = 88.6^{\circ}$, which are the angles of the first and second polarizer respectively. We are asked to find the reduction in the intensity of the sunlight. Show more…
Show all steps
Your feedback will help us improve your experience
Labs
Want to see this concept in action?
Explore this concept interactively to see how it behaves as you change inputs.
Key Concepts
Recommended Videos
To visually examine sunspots through a telescope, astronomers have to reduce the intensity of the sunlight to avoid harming their retinas. They accomplish this intensity reduction by mounting two polarizers on the telescope. The first polarizer has a polarizing angle of $38.3^{\circ}$ relative to the horizontal. If the astronomers want to reduce the intensity of the sunlight by a factor of 0.7584 , what polarizing angle should the second polarizer have with the horizontal? Assume that this angle is greater than that of the first polarizer.
To visually examine sunspots through a telescope, astronomers have to reduce the intensity of the sunlight to avoid harming their retinas. They accomplish this intensity reduction by mounting two linear polarizers on the telescope. The second polarizer has a polarizing angle of $110.6^{\circ}$ relative to the horizontal. If the astronomers want to reduce the intensity of the sunlight by a factor of $0.7645,$ what polarizing angle should the first polarizer have with the horizontal? Assume that this angle is smaller than that of the second polarizer.
Resolving sunspots You are looking at sunspots. They usually appear in pairs on the surface of the Sun. The Sun is about $1.5 \times 10^{11} \mathrm{m}$ from Earth. How close can two sunspots be so you can distinguish them when they are observed though an amateur telescope whose aperture (objective lens) is about 20 $\mathrm{cm} ?$ Describe all of the assumptions that you made.
Transcript
Watch the video solution with this free unlock.
EMAIL
PASSWORD