Question

An unpolarised beam of intensity $I_{0}$ is incident on a pair of nicol prisms making an angle of $60^\circ $ with each other. The intensity of light emerging from the pair is -

• A. $I_{0}$
• B. $\frac{I_{0}}{2}$
• C. $\frac{I_{0}}{4}$
• D. $\frac{I_{0}}{8}$

Answer 1

Answer: (D)

The intensity of light emerging from the first prism = $\frac{I_{0}}{2}$
and intensity of light emerging from the second prism is = $\frac{I_{0}}{2}cos^{2} 60^{o}=\frac{I_{0}}{8}$ .