how does fiber optics work

Fiber optics is a way of sending information using light. It works by sending light signals down a glass or plastic strand, also known as a fiber, instead of using electrical signals. The light signals travel down the strand and can be used to send data, voice, and video signals. An example of how this works is like a game of telephone. Imagine that you are at the beginning of a long line of people and you whisper a message to the person next to you. That person then passes the message along to the person next to them and so on until the last person in the line hears the message. Fiber optics is like this game of telephone except the messages are sent in the form of light and the people are replaced by strands of glass or plastic. Fiber optics can send data much faster than electrical signals because light can travel faster than electricity. It is estimated that fiber optic cables can transmit data at speeds up to 100 times faster than traditional copper cables. Fun Fact: Fiber optics cables are so thin that thousands of them can fit inside a single cable.