Analysis

Photometry is the science of the measurement of light, in terms of its perceived

brightness to the human eye. It is distinct from radiometry, which is the science of
measurement of radiant energy (including light) in terms of absolute power. In
modern photometry, the radiant power at each wavelength is weighted by a
luminosity function that models human brightness sensitivity. This experiment relies
on the human eye to compare illumination on two surfaces.
Light intensity is defines as the rate at which radiant energy is spread out on given
area. While a point source radiates light uniformly in all directions, the intensity of
light does not remain constant. The farther away from the source, the weaker the
intensity of light gets. Thus, this part verifies the Inverse Square Law in the
determination of r2. The law states that the intensity of the illumination is
proportional to the inverse square of the distance from the light source. It also
showed that the less the transmittance, the lesser the value of the distance from
the light source.
Polarization of light refers to the phenomenon or process of confining the vibrations
of the electric vector to just one direction of light. When an unpolarized light passes
through a polarizer, only about half of the light will transmit through and this
transmitted light will be polarized along the plane. If the now polarized light is then
incident on a second polarizer, the overall transmitted light will depend on the angle
between two axes of the polarizers. Thus, it was observed that if the transmittance
is 100% there are different results as the angles of the polarizers are changed. If 0
degrees was used, they almost the same, but S 1 is less bright than S2. If 90 degrees
was used, they are not the same anymore. Thus, the lower the percentage of the
transmittance the closer the distance of the light source from the photometer and
the vice versa.
Possible sources of errors are the inaccurate measurements of the distance from the
source of light and wrong observation of the angle of polarization.
Conclusion
In this experiment, we were able to familiarize the basics of photometry by
exploring the phenomenon of inverse square law and polarization. Inverse square
law rooted from the relationship of two light sources with the same intensity.
Analyzing first one source with constant power output, it shows that its intensity is
inversely proportional to the square of its radius that is centered from the light
source. For two light sources with the same power output, it relates the two
intensities and their radii by their equal power output and this relationship is called
the inverse square law. Inverse square law states that the ratio of the two intensities
is equal to the inverse square ratio of their corresponding radii.
Based on the experiment, it is concluded that the intensity of the light (luminosity)
observed from a given view varies with respect to its distance from the light source.
For shorter distances, light is more luminous. Finally, light is multicomponent, and is
polarized in all directions. When it is allowed to pass through a polarizer, it will be
linearly polarized, having only one direction. When a second polarizer is used, the
light that can be transmitted varies on the angle between the two polarizers. For
angle is equal to 0 degrees, the same amount of light from the first polarizer can
passed through. On the other hand, as it approaches 90 degrees, the intensity
decreases for only component of the linearly polarized light is allowed to pass. At 90
degrees, no light can be observed.