# Photon Polarizer

Light waves bob up and down (or even spiral through space) in different directions, a property that scientists call their polarization. In the quantum world, light comprises bundles of discrete blips of energy called photons, and these photons are indivisible: They can't be broken into pieces. So when a photon hits a polarizer, it either goes through or it doesn't. (Not going through usually means that the photon is absorbed or reflected away.) In this graphic, the photon polarization angle sends a stream of photons through one polarizer.

- Kind: Feature
- Year: 2021
- Runtime: 45 h 14 min
- By: Sean Kelley/The Quantum Atlas
- Archive: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Photon_Polarizer.webm)
- Licence or status: [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Sean Kelley/The Quantum Atlas
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/commons/113953354?play=1)