How do fiber optic cables carry data at the speed of light?
Your internet travels as pulses of light bouncing through glass thinner than a hair.
The answer
Fiber optic cables transmit data as pulses of light through glass or plastic strands thinner than a human hair (about 125 micrometers). Light enters the core and bounces along the fiber via total internal reflection, traveling at about two-thirds the speed of light. A single fiber can carry over 100 terabits per second using wavelength-division multiplexing - transmitting different data streams on different colors of light simultaneously. Submarine fiber cables spanning ocean floors carry over 95% of intercontinental internet traffic.
Source: IEEE Spectrum
- fiber optics
- internet
- communication
- light
More from Technology & Innovation
- How does GPS know your exact location?
- How big is the dark web compared to the regular internet?
- How does facial recognition technology actually work?
- What makes quantum computers fundamentally different from regular computers?
- How was WiFi accidentally invented?
- Can artificial intelligence truly be creative?