fun with polarizing filters

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just wondering, what kinds of nifty things could someone see through a polarized filter like if, say, they looked at building windows or clouds or even your TV?

Don't have one on hand to see so I'm hoping someone here would know or maybe direct me to a site that would know.

You might try Edmund Scientific. Or maybe a place that specifically sells "fishing sunglasses." I have found them sometimes in electronics surplus stores in the past, but it's been a while and I don't know how common that is anymore.

As far as what to look at, I'd say car windshields (you can see the tempering in the glass), LCD displays, and plexiglass under stress. It might be interesting to try putting a glass of water between 2 polarizers and the adding sugar to it.

Good video here:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz-Cyq2T6fY[/youtube]

Even better video, and they used an LCD monitor as a backlight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69D23fP9 ... h_response

You can see the hidden damage on my iPhone's screen . . .that was a fun "sunglasses on . . . and off . . . and on . . .wow! what did I do to this phone?"

You can see deeper into sea water. You can block the reflected flash when taking photos of things in cases. If you have two, you can resolve the 3D of 3D movies. You can also put them together and rotate them such that you block most of the polarized light.

The film in 3D cinema glasses is a decent polarizer.

Stress in transparent materials is interesting - look at car windscreens, where you can see the ripples that settled as the glass cooled unevenly, and the high stress areas around the edges and sharp turns. Cheap products that were cooled quickly are even better - transparent rulers, protractors and other stationery items are good. Some Christmas decorations with real glass. You can look at (and photograph) fish in tanks without reflections, by rotating the polarizer until the reflections disappear. The sky is very much darker and more blue.

awesome! thanks everyone!

You can always buy a pair of polarized sunglasses - they're more expensive than the regular kind - the practical use is that they cut down on glare and unwanted reflections. And yes, you can see more interesting stuff in car windshields