Fiber Optics Project

You hear the term fiber optics alot when people talk about telephone systems and cable tv. They have become a large part of our society helping us to become more technologically advanced. This technology helps with many things you would never expect. They are hiding in many electronics we rely on such as cable, phones, many internet providers use them, and they are used in many other electronics like surround sound. This technology provides us with a way to get information fast and makes everyday life a lot easier for everyone.

So we use fiber optic cables everday without knowing it, how does it work? The primary idea revolves around light traveling to provide fast transport of information. This occurs by taking an insulator primarily plastic or glass and using it to prevent the light energy from escaping. The light then travels through the cable which is hollowed out. The light is kept inside of the core by total internal reflection. This prevents loss of information and provides fast transport. The use of this technique causes the fiber to act as a wave guide. There are multimode fibers and single mode fibers. These are the main to kinds of fiber optic cables. The multimode fibers have more than one path for the light to travel down while the single mode fibers only have one. The multimode fibers are less common and are used for carrying large amounts of data shorter distances, they are used of often in buildings. The single mode fibers are used more often and are good for distances longer than 200 meters, these are the fibers used in phone wires.


Fiber optics are more complicated to put together than metal wires. They must be evenly cut and fitted together properly. The benefits are there though. The speed of light provides fast and large information travel possible. They have very high bandwidth which is what allows for the large amount of data travel. They also do not radiate which means no interference at all. This is relevent because when two singnals interfere their quality decreases. An example would be when you hold a cell phone next to a radio of some kind. If anyone has done this often you will get a loud noise thats extremely annoying. This makes fiber optics much better than metal wires because all electronics not using fiber optics give off radiation. This is why many orginizations such as the NSA (national security association) use fiber optics because the radiation caused by regular wire can be picked up and cause data to be stolen. Fiber optics is used for security for its unique ability to insulate and not loose any photons at all. In the end there is no reason not to use fiber optics unless you dont need the speed or the capacity otherwise it is the future and will continue to provide some of the best data transportation.

The principle behind light guiding used in fiber optics was first displayed by Daniel Colladon and Jaques Babinet in 1840. John Biard helped to pioneer the idea in the 1920's he was a television pioneer. The pricnicples set by these men helped usher in the idea of fiber optics. In 1970 the Corning Co. created a fiber optic cable made of glass that made long distance use possible. The use of this new technology allowed for the creation of the internet.

Fiber optics have a huge effect on our lives each day without them many of the conveniences we take for granted would not be possible.