John Tedesco
Mr. Wirth
Physics R
3 March 2008
Physics Blog Post: Fiber Optics
Fiber Optic Cables are one of the most widely used forms of sending information in the twenty first century. Fiber Optic cables are one of the fastest ways of communication, whether it is through the internet, television, or other devices such as telephone (How). In addition, they are very reliable and efficient, drawing more and more companies to use them each year. Millions of Americans use fiber optics in their internet cables instead of DSL. In addition, fiber optic powered internet is light years faster than road runner, something we think is fast. Many major Metropolitan cities such as
Many people are not familiar with this new and efficient technology. Fiber optics is a thin piece of glass about the same size of a single human hair. These thin strands of glass are packaged together in cables and are used to transfer information. Fiber optics consists of three main parts. The core is in the center and is pure, thin glass used to carry the light through the cable. Around the core is the cladding, which provides as a barrier in order to keep the light inside of the core (How). This is able to occur due to total internal reflection, which is when light is unable to escape from the core because of the properties of the cladding. If light tries to escape the core and move onto the cladding, it is unable to due to the difference in the indices of refraction between the core and the cladding (Homework). Surrounding the cladding is the buffer coating, whose only function is to minimize damage to the fiber optics. Thousands of fiber optic cables are then bundled up and are surrounded by jackets, making them the cables that we know today.
[img]http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/fiber-optic-fiber.jpg[/img]
There is a vast amount of physics behind the uses of fiber optics. All of it surrounds the principle of total internal refection. Total internal reflection is when light cannot pass from one medium to another because of the differences in the indices of refraction. In fiber optics, light is trapped in the core, because the angle of incidence at the surface of the cladding is greater than the critical angle (Homework). This means that the light remains trapped inside of the core and continues to travel at 300,000,000m/s through the cable. This results in the most efficient and by far the most affordable form of communication in the world today.
[img]http://hsc.csu.edu.au/senior_science/core/info_systems/9_4_6/Laserpath.gif[/img]
Fiber optics holds many advantages when compared to other forms of communication present in modern times. It is more efficient, less expensive, it takes up less space, it is faster, it is non-flammable since it uses light instead of electricity, it uses less power, and it can be used in medical imaging (How).
Fiber optics is by far one of the most promising technologies of the day. Taking advantage of light, fiber optics is one of the fastest forms of communication in the world, and it holds promising results for the future.
Citation
"Homework Help: Science: Physics: Fiber Optics." Jiskha Homework Help. 2 Mar 2008
"How Fiber Optics Work." How Stuff Works. 2 Mar 2008
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