What Is Fibre Optics

WHAT IS FIBRE OPTICS? To put it simply, fibre optics is a technology whereby a signal like video, data or voice, is concentrated on a light beam and sent down a glass tube over large distances, with very little distortion and loss. The principles of fibre optics are simple and easy to understand. All of us have seen the "broken straw" effect in a glass of water. When light travels from air to a denser medium, like glass for example, the light slows down by a factor equal to the optical index of the material and this slow down in speed results in bending of the light. As shown in the example when we see an object from underwater, the object is not in the actual position as we think because light bends travelling from water to air. When this angle of entry is increased, there would come a stage when the light is reflected back into the same medium, as shown in ray 3. This angle is called the angle of Total Reflection. Fibre Optics uses this simple principle for transmission. The core of the fibre optics cable, which is made of glass, has a higher index of refraction than the index of the cladding, which covers this core. So when light is injected into the glass core at the correct angle, it will reflect back from the surface and continue doing this in its forward direction of travel. In other words the light cannot "escape" from the fibre. COMPONENTS OF A FIBRE OPTICS

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Wave P0wer in britain

Can Britain be totally dependent on wave energy in the future? In this country there has been a growing importance in renewable energy there have been many conventions and meetings between politicians discussing about this topic. I will look at if Britain will be able to provide renewable energy from wave power for the whole country. Already Britain uses 358bn kWh but in the future that is set to increase to roughly 381bn kWh and out of the 358bnkWh only 15bn kWh is provided by renewable energy. I will look at the possibility of Britain being supplied 400bn kWh purely by wave energy. The advantage Britain has is that it is an island thus is surrounded by water and can easily set up 'wave farms'. There is plenty of energy stored in waves this is due to the conversion of wind energy in to waves. The waves are formed by wind; on a perfectly calm sea, the wind has practically no grip. As it slides over the water surface film, it makes it move. As the water moves, it forms small ripples. Ironically, these ripples do not travel exactly in the direction of the wind but as two sets of parallel ripples, at angles 70-80º to the wind direction. The wind that passes over the sea exerts a tangential stress on the water's surface which in the end creates the large waves as the waves get only bigger and bigger. Most of the energy stored in waves arises from kinetic energy; this is due to

  • Word count: 1958
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Investigate the factors that affect the Strength of an Electromagnet.

Sorbh Bhushan Investigate the factors that affect the Strength of an Electromagnet PLAN: > Collect all equipment needed for the experiment. > Wrap the insulated wire round the iron nail 50 times. > Connect the Batteries, Variable resistor and Ammeter. > Then use the crocodile clips to connect each end of the insulated wire together, to form a flowing current. > Make sure the current is steady at 0.2 amps all through the experiment. > Pour some iron filings on a piece of paper, and then use the iron nail to pick up the iron filings. > Disconnect the power after a while, and weigh the iron nail with the iron filings on it. > Repeat the experiment till there are 10 turns on the nail. Each time I repeat the experiment take away 5 turns from the iron nail till I get to 10 turns on the nail. > I will also repeat the whole experiment once more for fairness. DIAGRAM: Method I will take the iron nail and wind the wire around it, leaving the two ends of the wire free. Sorbh Bhushan I will Clamp up the nail and plug two crocodile clip leads into the Power pack and attach each crocodile clip to a different end of the wire, which is wound around the nail. I will turn on the power to the required voltage and then put the paper clip up so that they are touching the iron nail. If there are any paper clips still hanging, I will take them off and put

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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An Investigation Into the Effect of Wave Exposure on the Volume of Limpets

An Investigation Into the Effect of Wave Exposure on the Volume of Limpets Abstract: The aim of this investigation was to explore the effect of wave exposure on the volumes of intertidal limpets. Samples of the Patella spp. were measured at 2 different sites at West Angle Bay. A 0.25m2 quadrat was used to measure along a continuous horizontal belt transect at a fixed vertical height and the base diameter and vertical height of each limpet was measured using callipers. These measurements were then used to calculate the volumes of each limpet. The results obtained showed a measurable difference in the volumes obtained at the exposed shore site compared with the sheltered shore site. The results showed that there was a higher frequency of smaller limpets and a lower frequency of larger limpets at the wave-exposed site than at the sheltered site. Therefore wave exposure has a profound effect on the size distribution of this intertidal limpet species. The reasons for this are that the effects of wave action are more at the exposed shore site. As a result of the force of the water's acceleration increasing at a faster rate than the organisms ability to hold on as an organism grows, wave exposure prevents the distribution of larger limpets. When limpets are mobile their adhesive tenacity is much less than when they are stationary. This suggests that due to their reduced

  • Word count: 1974
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Experiment to Investigate which Factors Affect the Strength of an Electromagnet

Experiment to Investigate which Factors Affect the Strength of an Electromagnet Introduction An electromagnet is a magnet made of a solanoid with coils of wire around it. Aim To investigate which factors affect the strength of an electromagnet. Predictions I predict that the voltage, the amount of coils and the material of the solanoid can affect the strength of a magnet. I also predict that adding more coils increases strength. See domain theory. The Domain Theory The domain theory is that all the atoms point different ways in a piece of iron. When the piece of iron is magnetised all the atoms in the iron point to north. Variables The variables are the number of coils and the strength of the magnet. The number of coils I will change is in the independent variable and the strength of the magnet is the dependent variable. What I Intend to do I intend to investigate which factors affect the strength of an electromagnet. I intend to keep the voltage the same throughout the experiment I'm going to keep adding coils to the solanoid and find out how many paper clips it attracts. Apparatus Power Supply DC 0 - 13v demagnetising solanoid Connecting wires with plugs Crocodile clips Insulating wire (approximately 1m) Nail (soft iron) Heat proof mat Stand and clamp Paper clips Circuit Diagram Preliminary Experiment In the preliminary experiment I will check the

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Measure how the number of coils of insulated wire around the iron nail effects the amount of paper clips attracted to the electromagnet.

Introduction When insulated wire is wrapped round an iron nail and the ends of the wire are connected to a battery the nail becomes capable of picking and paper clips. This is called an electromagnet. The nail is magnetised by the current in the wire. If the battery is disconnected then the iron clips will fall off. This is because most of the magnetism has been lost. The passage of an electric current along a wire creates a magnetic field around the wire. The fields are in the shape of a series of concentric rings. The more coils used in the electromagnet, the stronger the magnet is. If there is one coil, and another is added, then the two coils have twice the strength of one. Aims For this investigation, I intend to measure how the number of coils of insulated wire around the iron nail effects the amount of paper clips attracted to the electromagnet. I believe that when more coils are added, the strength of the magnet will increase therefore it will be able to attract more paper clips. I believe this will happen because as more coils are wrapped around the core, the magnetic field gets stronger and stronger. For this investigation I will be changing the amount of coils to increase the magnetic fields strength. I will increase the amount of coils by 5 for every experiment. I will start with 5 coils of wire, then move onto 10, 15 etc up to 45. I will be measuring the

  • Word count: 829
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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There are several ways of sharing information - Statistical information - data.

All around the world, information is being shared. There are several ways of sharing information. It could be through the exchange of words, signs or gestures depending on the type of information being transmitted. Statistical information is commonly shared worldwide. Statistical Information is used in our everyday life and it could range from the number of times Mary Ann catches a cab to school to the sales figures of a mobile phone company from the year 2002-2003. Before sending such information out, one must collect the relevant data required to present a purpose. This can be done through surveys, questionnaires or research. In order to present the data effectively, it must be organized systematically so it can be easily manipulated. There are several ways of organizing and illustrating the collected data such as through pie charts, bar charts, line graphs, histograms and the list goes on. It helps to familiarize your self with the two types of data, discrete and continuous data. Discrete Data is information acquired through counting and is written in whole numbers. Examples of discrete data could be the number of passengers a bus had in a day, or the total number of jackets sold at a clothing store. Continuous data is information that is accumulated by measuring. This means measuring time, weight, circumference length, width and so on. Continuous data is usually

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Carry out an experiment to find a relationship between the incident angle and the refracted angle when light is shone through a rectangular Perspex block.

Introduction What is refraction? Refraction is the bending of the path of a light or sound wave as it passes across the boundary separating two mediums. If a wave of light travels from one medium to another the direction is changed. Refraction is caused by the change in speed experienced by a wave when it changes medium. A wave doesn't just stop when it reaches the end of a medium there will be some reflection off the boundary and some transmission into the new medium. The wave undergoes refraction as it approaches the medium. This can be demonstrated by shining a beam of light through a block of rectangular glass. Refraction also causes the wave length to change but the frequency never changes. How does refraction happen? Light slows down as it hits a denser medium for example, glass. If you were to direct a beam of light at a glass block you will see that the light changes direction when entering the glass. The reason for this is when the light comes into contact with the glass at an angle; one edge of the light beam slows down before the other. This causes the light to bend towards the normal until both edges are travelling at the same speed. The normal is the line from where the angled are measured. Diagram showing the refraction of light. Planning of the experiment Aim of experiment I am going to carry out an experiment to find a relationship between the incident

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Sunbathing A danger to your health, physics coursework

SUNBATHING A danger to your health? How Does Tanning Happen? When people sit outside sun bathing the sun's rays are hitting your body. These rays contain two types of ultra-violet radiation. They are UVA and UVB. These types of UV have different effects on your skin. UVA radiation gives you a tan whereas UVB radiation burns the upper layers of skin, causing sunburn. Melanin is the brown pigment in your skin that makes you tan. The UVA pass through the lower layers of your skin and they make cells called melanocytes to produce melanin. Melanin also provides protection from UV radiation. People whose ancestors lived in sunnier areas of the world are more likely to have protective brown skin. Ultraviolet (UV) Light Ultraviolet light is a form of radiation that is not visible to the human eye. It's has shorter wavelengths then visible light. The ultraviolet part of the spectrum is divided into three sections. These sections are the near ultraviolet, the far ultraviolet, and the extreme ultraviolet. The sections are divided by how energetic the ultraviolet radiation is. Some materials will absorb the energy from ultraviolet waves and emit the energy as visible light. These materials are called fluorescent and are used for fluorescent lighting (sometimes called strip lighting) and security marking. The sun emits UV light which causes the skin to tan. Sun beds use

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Physics in the real world - During my visit to Broomfield Hospital I witnessed two aspects of physics in every day use. These were X-Rays and ultrasound; they both do similar jobs, although they both have limitations.

Physics in the real world During my visit to Broomfield Hospital I witnessed two aspects of physics in every day use. These were X-Rays and ultrasound; they both do similar jobs, although they both have limitations. A German physicist named Wilhelm Roentgen first discovered X-Rays in 1895, the discovery of X-Rays revolutionised medical science, and it allowed doctors to see through human tissue, to examine broken bones, swallowed objects, and with a modified version, to examine tissues such as the lungs. They can be used to study the softer tissue of the body, they do this by introducing "contrast media" into the body, this is often a barium compound. If the doctor wants to examine the blood vessels it will be injected into the blood stream. X-Rays can also be recorded as a moving image by a process called fluoroscopy, in which the X-Rays pass through the body onto a fluorescent screen, creating a moving X-Ray image, which can then be recorded onto a film. X-Rays are not only used in the medical world, they are also used in airport security, to scan your bags. They are also used to detect flaws in big castings, to study quantum mechanics, crystallography and cosmology. The only problem with X-rays Is that they are a form of ionising radiation, which means that when it hits an atom, it can knock an electron off, turning the atom into a ion. Ions can then collide with more

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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