Variation of Soil PH Using Circularly Polarized Light

Abstract

The use of  a commercial circular polarizer to produce polarized light from a 85W conventional source and its influence on the pH of sandy loam soils is presented. The role of soil pH in the determination of plant nutrient requirements has made its monitoring important for plant growth and development. The study was designed to determine the effectiveness of using circularly polarized light to amend the level of soil acidity and alkalinity. Samples of acidic and alkaline sandy loam soils were exposed to a collimated beam of the circularly polarized and the pH and temperature measured at 1 - hour intervals for 8 hours in a dark room. The control was soil samples exposed to unpolarized light from another 85W conventional source. All the samples were replicated three times. The results show that circularly polarized light has the ability to significantly increase the pH of sandy loam acidic soil while it had no appreciable effect on the alkaline soil . This could provide an alternate non - chemical means of managing highly acidic sandy loam soils.

Key words: Soil pH,  Circular Polarization