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True or false: an unpolarised wave has no electric field.

  • A.True, polarisation being necessary for a field to exist
  • B.True, unless the wave is circularly polarised
  • C.False, but only for a wave in a conducting medium
  • D.False, the field being present but random in its orientation over time

Answer: D

Unpolarised light is a rapid and random superposition of all polarisations, so the field is present at every instant but its direction changes unpredictably. A single monochromatic plane wave is always polarised in some sense.

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