Question

If you lie on a beach looking at the water with your head tipped slightly sideways, your polarized sunglasses do not work very well. Why not?

a. The sunglasses lose their polarization in a tilted position.
b. Tilted sunglasses cause unpolarized light to pass through.
c. Tilted sunglasses change the orientation of polarized light.
d. Polarized light is absorbed by the water.

Answer 1

Tilted sunglasses change the orientation of polarized light, which is why they do not work very well when you lie on a beach looking at the water with your head tipped slightly sideways.

Step-by-step explanation:

When you lie on a beach looking at the water with your head tipped slightly sideways, your polarized sunglasses do not work very well because the angle of the sunglasses changes the orientation of polarized light.

Polarized sunglasses are designed to block horizontally polarized light, such as the glare reflected off water or glass. However, when the sunglasses are tilted, the vertically polarized light is able to pass through the lenses, reducing their effectiveness in cutting glare.

Therefore, the correct option is c. Tilted sunglasses change the orientation of polarized light