Polaroids on an Optical Bench

Polaroid filters are mounted on an optical bench to demonstrate the principles of light polarization. As light passes through the first Polaroid filter, it becomes polarized, aligning its electric field along the axis of the filter. When this polarized light encounters a second Polaroid filter, the intensity of transmitted light varies depending on the relative angle between the two filters. At 90 degrees, no light passes through, illustrating Malus's Law, which states that the intensity of light passing through two polarizers is proportional to the square of the cosine of the angle between their transmission axes.