How Do Polarized Sunglasses Work?!

Many of us have polarized sunglasses, but how does an optical polarizer actually block light? It has to do with the polarization of electromagnetic waves and the vibration of atoms in transparent solids.
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[@stevenmiller2820]

The weirdest thing I’ve noticed while looking through polarized sunglasses is my brother, but I doubt that had to do anything with the polarization.

[@alphastronghold4425]

LOL, LMAO

[@srsingh888]

Haha!!

[@aa_ron_dagreat8455]

Ha

[@prosperityx_TMC]

@Jamal Joziah scamm, and the next comment is scam too... ../.

[@ScienceAsylum]

@@prosperityx_TMC They've been hiding underneath popular comments all over the channel (and my friend's channels). Thanks for letting everyone in this thread know. I've reported all of them as a spam.

[@swolch]

I accidentally discovered that rainbow light is highly polarized. I was driving home from a long day at work. Behind me was a clear and very sunny sky and ahead was a rather large rainstorm producing the most vivid rainbow I had ever seen. I was wearing my polarized sunglasses (if it wasn't clear from context) and like I said it was a long day so, without changing my gaze (I was driving after all) I stretched my neck to the side and suddenly the rainbow practically vanished. It completely shocked me and was totally unexpected. 🤩

[@werallgnnadieintheend]

Omg wow!

[@EmpyreanLightASMR]

Re: rainbow: I hope to try this someday! In physics class, my partner noticed my Mac M1 laptop polarized into a deep purple, and his iPad polarized into black. We're curious as to why!

[@andreasy870]

finally, an explanation that truly explains how polarization of light actually works. thanks and subscribed

[@Anomynous]

late but yeah subbed too :-)

[@robertsparkman8516]

Your animations are top notch now, great job!

[@CaJoel]

Robert Sparkman ikr. He deserves way more views

[@brianwalker3798]

Nick! I just found you about a week ago, and I've subscribed and watched damn near everyone of your video's. And not one video have I not watched to the end. You are simply awesome at putting together these videos and more importantly explaining physics and science to a noob like me who has no education other than developing a super strong interest in physics in my late 30's. Please keep them coming. Thanks so much for what you do!!

[@ScienceAsylum]

Glad you like them :-)

[@christiansosa8189]

This channel needs more subscribers. As person who love these type of content, how has KZbin hidden a creator such as you for so long ! Loving the vids

[@stellarfirefly]

The coolest thing to see through polarized sunglasses are stress patterns in materials, especially glass, and especially car rear windshield glass. For many modern cars, usually a checkerboard pattern may be seen when the polarization axis is at the correct orientation. (Tilt your glasses a bit if you don't see them right away.) This is due to the tempering, done to control fragmentation when the glass breaks, by blowing cool air onto its surface while it is still hot and being shaped. The checkerboard actually shows the location, and sometimes even the shape, of those cool air nozzles.

[@ScienceAsylum]

I've seen this! It's a brilliant way to engineer parts. You can make it out of clear plastic first to see where the stress points are.

[@darrellseike3185]

I was looking at some high cirrus clouds made of ice crystals. The sun was above at just the proper angle that when I looked at them with polarized glasses, I saw a color light show in the clouds. Rainbows were interacting like a plasma fractal putting on such an incredible color show, my mouth was literally hanging open in complete awe. It looked like a psychedelic light show in the sky and went on for hours.

[@buckrogers5331]

I cover my phone camera with my sunglasses to take better pics of clouds. ;-)

[@maulwurf9414]

Buck Rogers wow good idea I think I will actually use that when I eventually have too

[@zenomight9274]

oh damn i didnt think about that

[@divyanshipatel8570]

Yeah good 💡

[@johntate6537]

I have always loved the coloured patterns you get looking at things like transparent plastic boxes through polarisers.

[@macronencer]

Another excellent video. You always take the topic one step deeper than most popular science presentations, and you make it easy to follow as well. Thank you!

[@ScienceAsylum]

It's nice to hear the depth is appreciated :-)

[@edmundwoolliams1240]

This is such a good explanation. I’ve never seen such a good explanation of this before

[@TheJohnblyth]

Excellent. That clears that up. You’re really good at this; keep ‘em coming.

[@kyzercube]

Nick, the most amazing thing I see with polarized glasses is the true dominant color of the daytime sky. With polarized glasses, the violet that we normally can't see, comes right out clearly visible and dominant in color.

[@RenatoOC91]

great video editing man! one of your best so far! making quality videos like this takes time but it'll be worth it! keep it up! I had a class in college that we used polarizers at 90º to each other to see residual tensions on acrilic components by puting the part between them and shining light through it. it was cool!

[@ScienceAsylum]

Polarizers are useful like that.

[@gabdraws7003]

I don't really have any sunglasses stories because I don't wear them often. But I just wanted to say since this is the first new video since I started following, after binging a number of your videos and noticing how virtually all of them have people saying you should have more followers, you have one more now. This is awesome stuff. Keep it up! Always excited for more

[@ScienceAsylum]

Welcome :-)

[@Phenom-rl5pr]

Great video! 2 questions: 1. Do polarized Sunglasses protect your eyes from the sun's UV rays? 2. Are all polarized lenses the same? For example, a $10 polarized pair of sunglasses from the gas station versus a $200+ dollar Oakley or ray ban?

[@chrisdevine4848]

1. Usually yes. But it's not the polarisation filter that does it. Glass offers a little UV protection anyway, but typically have an additional UV protection layer added to filter out the rest. Plastic lenses are actually better at filtering out UV inherently. 2. It depends. Here in the UK our sunglasses are marked with the UV rating, so it's entirely possible to find a cheap pair of sunglasses that are just as protective as an expensive pair. In terms of the polarisation filter, cheaper glasses are likely to have this applied to the front of the lense so are more prone to this wearing out over time. More expensive sunglasses will have the film sandwiched between two other layers so they'll last longer.

[@jininggordon4497]

Wow my friend your on your way to 50k subscribers congrats 😀 & I love your videos very educational

[@mastax1234]

this was a really great video that explained this perfectly, always wondered how polarized lenses let you basically see through water. I use them when fishing every time, never go fishing without them. there is a reason all the pro bass catchers wear them, because it gives you an advantage when you can spot fish without a radar.

[@TheDarkBrethren]

I remember when we studied polarised lenses in school, and I thought this would be an interesting replacement for blinds/curtains, and then I realised someome had already done it...

[@Kombivar]

the weirdest thing I noticed was actually by polarized filter in my camera while I was playing with near the river with sun in front of me, than I noticed that when the angle is perpendicular to the surface, than you can make a nice photos of the rocks and fishes beneath the surface :)

[@tdoubt100]

At last, a decent description of polarisation that I can understand! Many thanks Nick.

[@toasty1717]

@The Science Asylum, How have you not reached 100k+ Subs yet? Love learning, keep it up!

[@soumavakundu5850]

i have a question i understand that electrons vibrate in presence of electric field and it produces it on light but what happens to the original wave and second question how polarizer oriented 90 degree blocks the light if it cant absorb that light it must transmit it but how it absorb

[@randomisedrandomness]

Recently I got my hands on the 3d cinema glasses and finally did the experiment with a mirror. Also when I move them like in 5:33 looking through them from the outside then it works, but when i look through them from the inside, then screen becomes yellow in one direction and blue in the other.

[@ahmedrahmy1142]

Great job Nick! :) Love your videos :)

[@vsiddharthv]

I broke the display of my iPhone and got it replaced. After replacing, I wasn't able to see anything on the screen with a polarized sunglass on and the phone in a portrait position. I was able to clearly able to the contents on the screen when I rotated it. Till now, I was thinking that the new display was a fraudulent one!

[@ScienceAsylum]

Nope! Just a different design :-)

[@tempname8263]

Finally a proper explanation of polarization! I cry the tears of joy.

[@himanshushekhardas1730]

hats off to you man !!! great animation and explanation !!!

[@aoiti]

@2:00 I don't get what happens to the original photon if it gives energy to vibrate the electrons? Can a photon lose energy but not disappear? Does it result in a wavelength shift?

[@lopypop]

Whoa this is my first time on this channel and I love it! It's like @SmarterEveryDay meets Craig Middlebrooks from Parks and Rec

[@applepie3701]

Woah just when I thought I knew everything about this topic. I was wrong. Nice videos keep it up!

[@Cylon39]

So cool, I have always wondered about how these work, Thank you!

[@tommygibs1381]

I was motivated to look up this video because I just noticed that my polarized sunglasses allowed me to see much further while driving through blizzard conditions

[@Madmetroid99]

Thank you, I'm very interested in the photoelasticity phenomenon, so this video really helps understanding some basic things :)

[@peteranthonydaniel]

love your work nick!

[@riteshshinde3092]

Hey chandler keep up the good work love your videos and can't wait to see you cross 50k subscribers☺☺

[@Tee_eM_Kay]

what about 3 filters one at 0 degrees, 2nd at 45 degrees and 3rd at 90 degrees? If we take only 1st and 3rd we get no light coming out, but if we put 2nd between 1st and 3rd some light passes

[@art1muz13]

this is my first time on this channel and I love it!

[@sodiumvapor13]

This channel always has a video of the strange phenomenon I'm curious about. keep it up nick!

[@santicruz4012]

I'm learning about polarimetry this semester and you just explained this brilliantly! Thanks :')

[@ScienceAsylum]

Glad I could help 🤓

[@saikumar4346]

What will happen to other light rays that are not in direction of polarisation of glass?

[@melontusk7358]

This explains it perfectly, my goddamn teacher took an entire hour to make it make sense. I guess my professors' brainwaves are polarized in the direction those electron clouds in my neurons leave out.

[@zhinkunakur4751]

Good one bud XD

[@96shreyasvidwans14]

You are doing a great work. Keep it up!

[@LiborTinka]

I get the sunglasses filter reflections from horizontal planes, but what about all the other planes (e.g. window panes) - are they not filtered? I heard polarizing filter reduces all reflections...

[@johnrob2733]

I work out side and i love them I got some oklays , and i can see so much better it just makes everything look better

[@FatFingerJack]

Nick, I have a question for you and a possible next episode. What experiments could we do if we had a black hole in hand? (Meaning having it close enough to perform experiments but far enough not to have problem with it's effects) thank you!

[@SeanOng]

I have a degree in physics, but this helped me understand light polarization better - especially glare reduction. Thank you!

[@shamik02M]

Why did I waste me time going to lectures when I could just watch Nick. These videos give me more of an intuitive feel for things which are otherwise just memorised. Many thanks to you sir.

[@miyaku8902]

I realised that polarised glasses give you X-ray style vision into water at the beach on a hot summer day. It removes the glare coming off the surface and frees the view a few meters down. Found that endlessly fascinating. Sure the water must be clear.

[@ArabizeKnowledge]

Thanks for the valuable information, but I want to ask, I see through the polarized sunglasses the sun reflected in the glass of cars in the form of a blue dot. Isn't this a blue light pass to the eye and is it dangerous؟ Thanks again

[@AliMuratSonel]

Best video so far about this subject.. Thumbs up 🙌

[@haydenhuss8758]

But how do those glasses that help make the sun safe to at? Please explain.

[@kevinmetz206]

When wearing polarized sunglasses while using my Canon camera, viewing the LCD screen in landscape orientation and everything is all good. Looking at it in portrait orientation and "poof" everything disappears - its a blank screen.

[@monkeymalletsvideos]

Super cool! Thanks!

[@wolvenar]

Why do some transparent and refective things to a lessser degree have an oily like look through polarized lenses?

[@ThomasHaberkorn]

What is the number of polarisation states inside a blackbody cavity?

[@FlatEarthSwitzerland]

Absolute great work sir. Keep it up.

[@satanaz]

great stuff! been looking for a video that really explained this phenomena for a while

[@ScienceAsylum]

Glad I could help! 🤓

[@takemehomecountryroads657]

This is the best explanation of polarization ever, and that's not even the title of the video. It's beaten MIT's lecture on this topic.

[@sarasara888]

Thanks! Very helpful 💗

[@Paltibenlaish]

hi , one question if i use polarized glasses in front of my screen laptop , thats protect my eyes from blue light? thanks

[@ScienceAsylum]

No, the polarizers won't specifically block blue light. They _will_ block all the colors of light by a certain amount though.

[@hulangamuwag.d3060]

That was an awesome explanation.nice work mister 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@mrnade333]

The weirdest thing I’ve noticed while looking through polarized sunglasses is on high end German cars you can see the film in between the windshields as purplish green color!

[@jesussanchezherrero5659]

Does air work like glass and so succeeding layers of air absorb the light and air atoms wiggle creating their own light?

[@foroozanfaraji594]

Thanks a lot for this fast and rich explanation.

[@syamsihanif5985]

Damn. Learned something new today. Thank You for the great explanation!

[@nanak3363]

at 2:24 u said moving electrons , now magnetic field part of light should influence them and they themselves will produce magnetic field isn't it ?

[@johncombs4858]

When I was much younger I noticed spots when looking at water with sun glare only at certain angles. After having Lasik surgery polarized glasses have a smoky haze. I've always been able to see patterns in the polarized glasses but now it's just a haze that completely goes away with non polarized glasses.

[@marktaylor4071]

Great topic, thanks for sharing!

[@graviton9971]

The way he started the video is crazy😆.. and I love it. I must be one his 'hey crazies'🤣🤪

[@ScienceAsylum]

I really enjoyed making that intro.

[@yaaryany]

5:04 But why? Why is it that at Brewster's angle, when the refracted ray is perpendicular to reflected ray, the light gets linearly polarised? I've checked everything online and i cannot understand the reason behind it. Guess I'm too dumb. Someone help.

[@PatrickD.2000]

I've been reading up on this too, but there doesn't seem to be an explanation past, "its mathematically convenient". The Brewster angle is really just a convenient solution of one of Fresnel's formulas, in the case where p-polarised light 'reflectivity' is equal to 0. Fresnel's formulae are derived from Snell's law (e.g. the laws of refraction), so the best classical description would just be, "light travels between two points along the path that requires the least time, as compared to other nearby paths", which is Fermat's principle. Here's the wiki on Fermat's Principle, it might have what you're looking for: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermat%27s_principle

[@diiivcelindo4131]

Thank you! You helped me with a project as I don't have polarized sunglasses to test this out myself!

[@ScienceAsylum]

Glad I could help.

[@AshimKundu]

Thanks for updating

[@craigsymalla25]

I noticed car windshields and Auto Glass have a checkered grid of dark spots on them when looking with polarized glasses. Why is that? Great vid btw.

[@user-po6hn9id1t]

Craig Symalla loads

[@marvnuts]

That glass has been tempered and the uneven cooling creates patterns in the glass. I'd guess those patterns create filters for light that are further filtered by your sunglasses.

[@johntate6537]

I believe it is to do with stress. As ML says, the uneven cooling creates the pattern, specifically a pattern of variable stress. The stress then causes the glass to interact differently with polarised light at different locations in the glass. Polarised light and perspex models, that behave the same way in stress as glass, are used by some engineers to identify locations of great stress in e.g. an intended bridge design.

[@oliverkerremans2099]

What's the song called that starts at 3:30? It's a great song but i can't find it :/

[@ScienceAsylum]

"Detour" by Gunnar Olsen

[@shaflyhamzah3848]

Amazing explanation!

[@unknown-mn9wo]

great explanation !

[@theinthanhlan3582]

can we change the direction of polarized light.

[@LuigisonsDojo]

5:19, but why does putting a third polarized film between the two allow more light to pass through?

[@julesskodzinski8673]

Another concise explanation for something as common as sunglasses thanks

[@zbyszeks3657]

Wonderfull!!! But I'm not sure if I understand it correctly. Do light that goes out of polarized glass is actually emitted by polarizer? It's not the same light that went in?

[@ScienceAsylum]

I like to think of the light being emitted as different than the light that entered. It just makes the most sense to me. In the end though, it doesn't matter. The universe doesn't care if it's the same light or not.

[@satviksoni6764]

Your videos are so amazing and informative thanks so much for creating great content!!! Love from india

[@IpremiumSsarcasmi]

Thanks for teaching us general relativity.

[@vishalsharma8383]

Thanks to making such helpful video It cleared my concept for class 12th examination

[@ujjwalkumar6301]

Your Concepts and Explanations Are Great much better than the Books. And Great Animations Tooo ...

[@evoxdream9101]

once in awhile, one stumbles upon something worth keeping, kinda like a swiss knife, keep that cuz u never know when u might need something it offers... u sir is a swiss knife. u will become useful to me someday 100%. sub'd.

[@buckrogers5331]

Thanks! Wanted this answer a long time.

[@MrHighvolt]

Please follow up with circular polarisation, and the quantum voodoo that happens with 3 polarizers !!!

[@kripashankarshukla4073]

I am very glad to see that you are making your videos. Please keep making them

[@masoni6309]

Anyone notice when you look at the cars window through your polarized lenses; the car window has a pattern that similar to oil spots?

[@titanicstuff2103]

Fabulous! I finally cleared out my doubts. Thanks a lot

[@ScienceAsylum]

Glad I could help! 🤓

[@hitanshioza6847]

How come there’s only one such video on polarisation on yt!?!??! Anyways this video was realllllly good and very helpful.

[@rebeldirtbikealliancemotov9551]

I could see a pattern on my cars front window screen of lines horizontal and vertical in a kind of monochrome colour pattern. With the sun glasses on. Good vid pal top effort gone in I can see.

[@saikumar4346]

Why glare occurs?could you please explain me it in a better way

[@AlexDominus]

Great video!

[@TheNm245]

Hi Great Video!! I have a question though.. Is the polarisation axis of both the lenses in a pair of Sunglasses the same or different? Like if the right lens axis is at 60 degree is the left one at 120 degree??

[@ScienceAsylum]

The polarization axis in sunglass lenses is always vertical because the vast majority of glare is horizontal.

[@yordannedelchev4784]

What about the light that gets blocked. Is it absorbed as heat or reflected.

[@ScienceAsylum]

The blocked light is absorbed at heat.

[@ErikKubica]

the thing with the computer screen is really cool :D thanks made my day

[@kinggodwise8119]

Great explanation