Polarizer vs UV Filter
Polarizers and UV filters are two devices used to filter components of electromagnetic waves. The polarizer is used to obtain polarization, and the UV filter is used to filter out ultraviolet rays from a beam of electromagnetic waves. Both of these devices have a large variety of applications and are very useful in daily lives. It is vital to understand what polarizers and UV filters are in order to excel in fields such as optics, photography, safety designing and various other fields. In this article, we are going to discuss what polarization is, what polarizers and UV filters are, their applications, the similarities between polarizations and UV filters, what they consist of, and finally the difference between UV filters and polarizers.
Polarizer
In order to understand a polarizer, one must first understand polarization. Polarization is simply defined as a certain type of orientation of oscillations in a wave. Polarization of a wave describes the direction of oscillation of a wave with respect to the direction of propagation; therefore, only transverse waves display polarization. The oscillation of particles in a longitudinal wave is always in the direction of propagation; therefore, they do not display polarization. There are three types of polarization, namely linear polarization, circular polarization and elliptical polarization. Imagine a wave travelling through space. If the wave is a mechanical wave, a particle is affected by the wave and oscillates. If the particle oscillates on a line perpendicular to the direction of propagation, the wave is said to be linearly polarized. If the particle traces out an ellipse on a plane perpendicular to the movement of propagation, the wave is an elliptically polarized wave. If the particle traces a circle on a plane perpendicular to the direction of propagation, the wave is said to be circular polarized. The process of polarizing is done using a polarizer. A polarizer is a device which only allows some fraction of the wave pass through it.
UV Filters
UV is the common name used to denote ultraviolet rays. UV rays lie in the range of 10 to 400 nanometers, or 5 eV to 124 eV. UV filters are designed to filter out UV range of electromagnetic waves from a set. This is very helpful, since long exposure to UV rays can cause skin cancers. UV filter glasses (UV cut) are widely used in automobiles. A large amount of UV rays are emitted in arc welding processes. A cobalt glass is used to filter out UV in such cases.
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What is the difference between Polarizer and UV Filter? • Polarizers filter in a certain orientation of EM waves whereas a UV filters out UV rays. • A polarizer works in any wavelength, but a UV filter only filters out UV rays. • A polarizer lets the desired beam to pass whereas the polarizer blocks the desired beam. • Polarizers are used in Polaroid glasses and tints. UV filters are used in automobile glasses and eye protection.
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