Racemic mixture is optically inactive due to the fact that in equimolecular mixture of enantiomeric pairs the rotation caused by the molecules of one enantiomer is cancelled by the rotation caused by the molecules of other enantiomer. ... This is the reason why racemic mixture becomes optically inactive.

Are racemates optically active?

A solution in which both enantiomers of a compound are present in equal amounts is called a racemic mixture, or racemate. ... Since enantiomers have equal and opposite specific rotations, a racemic mixture exhibits no optical activity.

Why racemic modification is optical inactive?

The enantiomers do not rotate the plane polarized light because the opposite directions cancel each other which the molecular rotation caused by the one enantiomer is cancelled by another enantiomer. Because of this, the racemic mixture is optically inactive.