Question

Collect information on working of optical fibers. Prepare a report about various uses of optical fibers in our daily life.

Answer 1

Hint: The information can be transmitted through light pulses. For this we use fibers or plastic strands. This technology can be called as optical fibers. They are widely used for data networking.

Complete step by step solution:
In fiber optics the data is in the form of light particles or we call it as photons. The optical fibers have two parts, glass fiber core and cladding. Both have different refractive index. Hence they bend the light coming through the optic cable at an angle. The pattern of reflection will be in a zigzag manner and seems to have a total internal reflection. The angle of incidence of the light signals is greater than the critical angle. That’s why the total internal reflection takes place.
The light signals which are travelling with a velocity lower than the speed of light are regenerated by the repeaters. This is for long distances. The optical signals are converted to electric signals. Then the electric signals are processed and they are retransmitted as optical signals.

Here are some uses of optic fibers. They have great advantage in medical and data networking.
1) They are used in endoscopy for observing the internal organs
2) They are used in photometric sensors to measure the blood flow inside the heart.
3) They are used in transmitting communication signals since they have high speed and accuracy.
4) They are used in the wirings of aircraft, hydrophones for SONARS and also in seismic applications.
5) They are used to check damage for the inspection of pipes.

Note: The light rays passing through the dense medium will incident at the boundary with an angle greater than critical angle. This causes total internal reflection. This property helps the optical fibers to transmit data in the form of optical signals.