EQUIPMENT: Optical Fiber, Small Bright Light, Magnifying Lens DESCRIBE THE FIBER The optical fiber is made partly from glass. Try to bend the fiber (gently, not sharply) to see if it is rigid or flexible. 1) Is the fiber rigid like a piece of glass? Use a magnifying lens to look carefully at the end of the fiber. 2) Draw the appearance of the end and show the part which you think is probably the glass. SEND LIGHT THROUGH THE FIBER Put one end of the fiber near and pointed toward a small bright light. 3) Does light appear to be coming out the other end? Curve the fiber around a corner (keep one end near the light). 4) Does this affect whether light comes out the other end? Place a pencil against the end of the fiber which is pointed at the light source. 5) Can another person who is looking only at the other end of the fiber tell when the pencil is moved in and out of position? Can you send them a coded message? HOW IS THIS USEFUL? Information can be sent by light beams along optical fibers. A light sensitive microchip has been invented that can read information from the optical fiber at the rate of 9 billion tiny flashes per second. Optical fibers as thin as the one you just used can carry many telephone conversations at one time. Doctors can push optical fibers along blood vessels and look into a patient's heart. New uses of optical fibers are being reported in newspaper and magazine articles.

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URL: http://acept.la.asu.edu/PiN/opticskit/expt/experiment11.shtml