Optical Activity: When Light Meets Molecules

The video tutorial explains how optical activity is measured using a polarimeter, which consists of a light source, two Nicole prisms (polarizer and analyzer), and a detector. The light used should be plane polarized, typically yellow light from sodium. The tutorial describes how to detect optical activity by passing unpolarized light through a polarizer, creating plane polarized light, and then through a sample tube. If the light's direction changes, the compound is optically active (chiral); if not, it is inactive (achiral). Optically active compounds are further classified as dextro rotatory (right rotation) or levorotatory (left rotation), represented as D or + and L or -, respectively.

What is the purpose of a polarimeter in measuring optical activity?

Describe the process of how plane polarized light interacts with a sample in a polarimeter.

What distinguishes a chiral compound from an achiral compound in terms of optical activity?

What are the classifications of optically active compounds based on the rotation of plane polarized light?

Explain the significance of the angle of rotation observed in a polarimeter.