In the sample compartment of a conventional spectrophotometer, mounting of a polarizer before sample and an analyzer behind sample allows the determination of the optical rotatory dispersion of optical active media by measurement of the transmission ratio of crossed and parallel arranged polarizer and analyzer. A formula for the determination of the angle of rotation is derived from the transmission ratio. The arrangement is applied to determine the molar optical rotation of D-glucose in water in the wavelength range from 220 nm to 820 nm.