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Compare copper wires to optical fibers for transmitting sound, image or data. |
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Introduction:
| As time passes, more and more
communication systems use fiber optic cables instead of traditional
copper wires. Using optical fiber to transmit sound or data is much more
complex than using copper wires. Optical fibers are not easy to work
with. They require special equipment and trained technicians for cutting
and making connections. On the other hand you can cut copper wires with
any pair of scissors or pliers and they can be connected easily. |
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With so many difficulties in using fiber optic
lines and no obvious benefit, why do we use them? |
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Project
description
In this project you compare optical
fibers with copper wires for transmission of sound or data. Your
experiments may measure signal degradation or noise as factors that may
affect our choices in selecting a transmission media. The experiments in
this project do not need and use any optical fiber. Instead you perform
experiments to show problems with copper wires. You focus on problems
that obviously cannot exist with optical fiber (because of the nature of
the light).We do not
recommend this project
This project may not be acceptable to
many teachers and schools because it contains no experiments with actual
fiber optic lines. The equipment needed for testing fiber may exceed
$25000 in value and require knowledge and expertise that are not
available to young students. That is why in this simplified project the
experiments only show the problems with copper wires. |
Details
of this project
More details or support for this project is available for the
members of ScienceProject.com. Material
needed for experiment can be purchased locally or ordered on the
Internet. |
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