When light passes through a polarizing medium and a certain percentage of light passes through, the remaining light is typically absorbed rather than reflected. A polarizing medium, such as a polarizing filter, is designed to allow only light waves oscillating in a specific direction (polarization) to pass through while blocking or reducing the intensity of light waves oscillating in other directions.
Polarizing filters work based on the principle of polarization, which is the alignment of light waves in a specific direction. When unpolarized light passes through a polarizing filter, it becomes linearly polarized, meaning the light waves oscillate in a specific plane. The polarizing filter is designed with microscopic aligned molecules that can absorb or transmit light waves depending on their polarization orientation.
If a certain percentage of light passes through the polarizing medium, it means that the filter is allowing that portion of light, with the specific polarization aligned with the filter's orientation, to transmit through. The remaining light, which does not have the desired polarization, will be absorbed by the filter material.
It's worth noting that the exact behavior of light passing through a polarizing medium can depend on the specific characteristics of the medium. Some polarizing materials may have slight reflectance or scatter light to some degree, but the primary mechanism for light reduction in polarizers is absorption.