Elenco Fiber Optics Voice Data Kit User Manual
Introduction
Welcome to the fascinating world of fiber optics technology!
Not long ago, fiber optics was little more than a laboratory
curiosity. Physicists and scientists in research labs were the only
people doing much work in this field. Components were typically
high-priced, unavailable, or had to be made from raw materials.
Generally, fiber optics was considered a very special field of
optics with few real applications. No company then in existence
specialized in fiber optics.
In the last 20 years all this has changed. Although the precise
origins of fiber optics are hard to define (one might say the
"beginning" occurred when light was created), many
knowledgeable people contend the turning point was the
successful demonstration of a fiber optic telephone line in 1976
by the Bell Telephone System. Since then, fiber optics has
become one of the breakthrough technologies world-wide. From
obscure beginnings in the back of a lab, fiber optics has become
the major advertising focus of communications giants such as
AT&T, Sprint and MCI, and it has simplified many medical
procedures. Fiber optics is now a leading edge technology. It
employs many of the world's brightest engineers and scientists
working in companies of all sizes.
We hope you enjoy your Adventures in Fiber Optics Kit. In it
are 20 action-filled experiments and five projects to impress your
friends, parents and fellow students. We hope it exceeds your
expectations and provides you with many hours of interesting
and stimulating activities. At this time please inspect your kit and
identify every item in the Kit Components list. If any items are
missing, please see the section entitled "Missing Parts &
Warranty Information."
Table of Contents
Introduction
Metric Units of Measure ....................................................... ii
Kit Contents........................................................................... ii
Additional Items Required ................................................... iii
Missing Parts & Warranty Information ............................... iii
Experiments
Introduction to Fiber Optics: ........................................................................... 1
Bending the Light Guide................................................................................... 2
Light Makes Its Escape ................................................................................. 3
Modern Optical Fiber ..................................................................................... 4
Testing Fiber Cladding .................................................................................... 5
Tyndall's Prestigious Experiment..................................................................... 6
Special Optical Effects.................................................................................... 7
Optical Fiber is Tough Stuff ............................................................................ 8
A Rock Called Ulexite...................................................................................... 9
Fiber Faceplates.............................................................................................. 10
Making Your Own Image Conduit................................................................. 11
Fiber Optics and Lens:..................................................................................... 12
The Art of Polishing Glass............................................................................... 13
Visual Clarity Comes in Bundles...................................................................... 14
Fiber Does the Bends ....................................................................................... 15
Fiber Optic Image "Inverters" ......................................................................... 16
Flexible Fiber Bundles....................................................................................... 17
More Fiber and Lenses ................................................................................... 18
Fluorescence .................................................................................................... 19
Molecular Structures ..................................................................................... 20
Projects
Create a Fiber Optic Wand ............................................................................ 21
Lighting the Stars........................................................................................... 22
Personal Holiday Tree Ornament................................................................... 23
Putting Your Name in Lights .......................................................................... 24
Fiber Optic Image Magnifier.......................................................................... 25
Congratulations .................................................................... 26
I M P O R T A N T S A F E T Y P R E C A U T I O N S :
Some of these experiments require that you heat and bend objects to create different,
permanent shapes. You
performing these procedures. In addition to using gloves or padding, we suggest you wear safety
glasses or goggles when heating and bending any of the components into different shapes. Adult
supervision is advised.
must
wear gloves or use cloth padding to protect your hands when
Metric Units of Measure
The Metric System is the primary unit of measure used throughout this kit because fiber optic
technology was developed using the Metric System. For those of you prefer, the English measurement
system of inches, feet, etc., has been listed in parentheses behind the metric in most cases. The English
dimensions may not always be exact conversions.
Kit Contents:
The items below are found in your Industrial Fiber Optics AA
be used in completing the experiments and projects found in this manual. The items are listed in the
order in which they are used in this manual. The items are described by their physical size or color and
their technical names. To identify these components go through the list and pick out the items that you
can easily identify by their physical size or color. Once you have identified the obvious ones go through
the list again. After several passes through the list you will find that you have successful identified
every item. If any items are missing or damaged in your kit, please go to the section entitled "Missing
Parts & Warranty Information" for assistance.
1 Penlight
1 Black rubber penlight "boot"
1 3 mm (1/8 inch) diameter acrylic rod, 30 cm (12 inches) long
1 2 mm (.08 inch) diameter optical fiber, 50 cm (20 inches) long
1 2.2 mm (.088 inch) outside-diameter jacketed optical fiber, .75 m (30 inches) long
1 Ulexite crystal (off-white, irregular-shaped rock)
1 10 × 10 × 2.5 mm (.4 × .4 × .1 inch) fiber optic faceplate
1 25 × 25 × 6 mm (1 × 1 × 1/4 inch) piece of clear plastic
10 .5 mm (.02 inch) diameter plastic optical fibers, 1 m (39.4 inches) long
1 9.5 mm (3/8 inch) diameter black heat shrink tubing, 2.5 cm (1 inch) long
1 2000 grit polishing paper (dark gray color)
13 µm polishing film (pink color)
1 Lens, double convex, 25.4 mm (1 inch) diameter
1 3 mm diameter × 4.3 cm (1/8 × 1-3/4 inch) image conduit (glass-like rod)
2 Small binder clips
25 .25 mm (.01 inch) diameter plastic optical fibers, 1 m long (39.4 inches)
1 3 mm (1/8 inch) diameter white heat shrink tubing, 7.5 cm (3 inches) long
3 Rubber bands
1 1 mm (.04 inch) diameter red and green plastic optical fiber, 15 cm (6 inches) long*
1 3 mm (1/8 inch) black heat shrink tubing, 15 cm (6 inches) long
Red, green and blue gel filter material
1 Star/constellation map
1 20 × 20 cm (8 × 8 inch) Foamcor® mount
2 Twist ties
1 Holiday wreath or tree
1 2.5 cm (1 inch) diameter acrylic cylinder, 10 cm (4 inches) long
1 2.22 cm (7/8 inch) diameter acrylic cylinder, 5 cm (2 inches) long
1 3 mm diameter × 2.5 cm (1/8 × 1 inch) image conduit (glass-like rod)
1 12 mm (1/2 inch) diameter clear plastic ball
* Larger or smaller diameter fiber maybe substituted for variety.
AA
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and will
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Additional Items Required:
Listed below are additional common household items that you will need to complete the projects
and experiments in this kit. In each experiment or project, the items needed will be listed under
Materials Needed. The items not included in this kit (you will need to furnish them) will have an
asterisk (*) following them.
2 AA batteries
Alcohol lamp, Bunsen burner or propane torch
Gloves, or two pads of cloth
Safety glasses or goggles
1 Single-edge razor blade
Pan which will hold water a depth of 5 cm (2 inches) A cake or bread pan works well.
Empty 1-gallon plastic milk container (washed and cleaned)
Blow dryer (as used for blow drying hair)
Scissors
Ball point pen
Hot glue gun*
Aluminum foil
Hammer
Ruler
Water, light oil or glycerin, 10 ml (.5 oz)
Toenail clippers
Isopropyl alcohol
Cotton swab
Roll of paper towels
Roll of masking tape 15 cm (1/2 to 3/4 inch) wide
Three-sided file (a small emery board nail file will also work)
Pliers
Pencil
Pin (the type used in sewing)
* Clear silicone glue can be used instead of the hot glue and gun throughout this kit, but you
will need to wait for the silicone to dry (usually several hours).
Missing Parts Claims & Warranty Information
This kit was carefully inspected before leaving the factory. Industrial Fiber Optics products are
warranted against missing parts and defects in materials and workmanship for 90 days. Since heating
and incorrect assembly can damage components, no warranty can be made after assembly has begun. If
any parts become damaged, we suggest that you contact the company from which this kit was
purchased, since such companies often carry the items contained in this kit as individual components.
If you need replacement items immediately, you may also consider local electronics stores, hobby shops
or specialized retail science suppliers.
You may also send us a letter describing the item you need. (Address can be found at the rear of
this manual.) Include $5 (U.S. funds) in check or money order for the first item and $2.50 for any
additional item thereafter. We will send the item(s) to you by first class mail. Be sure to include your
return address in your letter and allow about two weeks for delivery.
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One dictionary defines fiber optics as:
1. The branch of optics dealing with the transmission of light and images, as around bends
2. The fiber thus used.
In our first experiment we will show how a simple plastic rod can guide light from one point to
another in a "fiber optic" manner.
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Penlight (you must provide and install 2 AA batteries)
Black rubber penlight boot
3 mm (1/8 inch) diameter plastic rod, 30 cm (12 inches) long
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• Dim the room lighting and turn on the penlight. Point it at a wall. Observe the size of the light
beam on the surface as you move the light closer to the wall. Notice the beam size when the
light is approximately 30 cm (12 inches) away.
• Fit the black rubber boot over the bulb end of the penlight, then insert one end of the plastic rod
into the hole in the rubber boot.
• Observe the bright white light which appears at the other end of the acrylic rod.
• With the plastic rod in the boot, point the rod tip toward a wall and observe how the size of the
light spot changes as you vary the distance from rod tip to the wall.
• Look carefully to see if you can observe any light
into a dark room.)
• Now grip the plastic rod in the middle by clutching it inside your fist. Is the intensity of the light
coming from the tip now more, or less, than it was before you gripped the rod? Turn the
penlight off.
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Light from the penlight bulb should enter one end
of the plastic rod and exit the other end. When the tip of
the rod is close to the wall, the size of the light beam
should be small. When you dim the room light you
should see light a small amount of light inside the rod.
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Light entering one end of the acrylic rod is trapped inside until it exits the other end. This
happens because of a material characteristic called optical density. The optical density of the rod is
greater than the optical density of the air around the rod. Because light is confined in the rod, it doesn't
spread until it leaves the tip. Contrary to popular belief, light can't be seen as it passes through the air.
The "light beam" you may see traveling through space from the projector in movie theaters is actually
light being reflected off dust particles in the air. The light you see inside the rod is caused by
imperfections in the plastic which cause light to scatter.
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German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) is known chiefly for his
discovery that the planets move in elliptical (oval-shaped) orbits. However, he also published a book in
1604 called Astonomiae pars Optica. The publication explained, with the help of several experiments,
how light travels in straight lines, casts shadows, and bends when it moves from one substance to
another. He was well ahead of his time.
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What exactly is Fiber Optics?
and curves;
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inside
the plastic rod. (It may be necessary to go
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established path. In this activity we will bend the plastic rod to further demonstrate the rod's "lightguiding" properties and how light can be "persuaded" to travel around bends and curves.
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• Place your heat source on a firm flat surface. Light the fuel with a match and adjust the flame
• Remove the plastic rod from the rubber boot. Using gloves or cloth pads, carefully grip each end
• When the center of the rod is flexible, remove it from the heat and quickly bend the rod into a
• Insert one end of the curved rod into the hole in the rubber
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just as well as in Experiment 1. Any decrease in light intensity
should be very slight.
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"bounced" back and forth off the inner walls of the rod many times,
at very small angles. Even when the acrylic rod is bent, light strikes
the interior walls of the rod at pretty much the same angles. Light continues to travel from one end to
the other just as it did when the rod was straight.
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that predicted how light would interact with matter. Sometimes his theories worked; sometimes they
didn't. It was Willebrord Snell (1580-1626), a Dutch
mathematician and astronomer, who refined these
principles to what we know and use today in predicting
how light rays will act when they encounter optical
materials like our acrylic rod.
Optical fibers can transfer light through bends and curves
True optical fibers can do more than transfer light from one end to the other through an
Penlight with batteries
Black rubber penlight boot
3 mm (1/8 inch) diameter plastic rod, 30 cm (12 inches) long
Alcohol lamp, Bunsen burner or propane torch*
Pair of cotton gloves or cloth pads*
* Not contained in this kit.
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until it burns steadily.
of the rod. Hold the center of the rod above the flame and heat a central area about 10 cm (4
inches) long. Rotate the rod so it heats evenly.
"U-shape" as shown in the illustration here. Turn the heat
source off and allow the rod to cool for at least five minutes.
boot on the penlight, and turn the penlight on. Observe the
light coming out the other end of the rod. Is the light's
intensity the same, greater, or less than before you bent the
rod? Turn the penlight off.
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The light should travel from end to end in the "U-shaped" rod
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Light traveling inside the straight acrylic rod actually
Egyptian geographer Ptolemy (AD 90-168) probably devised the first "laws" or scientific theories
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material surrounding the acrylic rod will affect the rod's light-transmitting ability.
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• Turn the penlight on. Insert one end of the U-shaped rod into the black rubber boot (if you
• As you immerse the rod in the water, observe the
• Now dim the room lights, immerse the rod in water
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amount of light coming out the far end of the rod decreases.
When the room lights are dimmed you should be able to see
light escaping from the plastic rod by looking at the bottom of
the pan.
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change in optical density outside the rod when it is dipped in
water. The optical density of water is closer to that of the rod
than the optical density of air; therefore, it doesn't trap light
as well. When the light in the rod encounters the water,
some of it escapes and travels to the bottom of the pan. The
U-shape in the plastic rod increases the amount of light escaping when it is immersed in water.
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for optical density as we have applied it really is "refractive index" or index of refraction. The refractive
indices of the three materials that you worked with in this experiment are shown in the table at the
right.
to transmit light can be affected by conditions around them? If this
were actually the case, they would not be very useful. Most fiber
optics used for commercial applications are manufactured with a
coating around the central light-carrying portion so that external
conditions do not affect them. This coating is called "cladding" while
the central "light-carrying" portion is called the "core". A fiber's
cladding always has a lower refractive index than the core.
The light-carrying portion of an optical fiber must be protected
In this activity you will observe how changing the optical density (refractive index) of the
Penlight with batteries
Black rubber penlight boot
3 mm (1/8 inch) acrylic rod bent into "U" shape from Experiment 2
Pan of water about 20 cm (8 inches) wide and 5 cm (2 inches) deep*
* Not contained in this kit.
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removed it previously.) Slowly immerse the bent
portion of the rod in the water, but be careful to keep
the penlight and rubber boot out of the water.
amount of light coming out the end of the rod.
and again observe the light as it travels through the
rod. Can you see light escaping from the rod? Where
does the light go? Turn the penlight off.
::::
As the bottom of the U-shaped rod is immersed, the
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The decrease in light from the rod end is caused by the
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"Optical density" as we have described it previously may seem a little vague. The scientific term
You might now ask: What good are optical fibers if their ability
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Water 1.33
Acrylic
(plastic)
Air 1.0
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doesn't really do a very good job. To transmit light long
distances, commercial optical fibers must be composed of ultrapure transparent materials. For example, some commercial
optical fiber material is so pure that the light lost when traveling
through a one-kilometer (5/8 of a mile) length is more than 90
percent of the light which entered the fiber.
concentric layers of core and cladding. The fiber you will use in
this experiment contains a central "light carrying" core and a
very thin (10 µm/.0004 inches) cladding layer to trap the light
inside. (The cladding is also transparent. You probably won't be
able to distinguish it from the core.)
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• Insert one end of the 2 mm (.08 inch) diameter fiber into the rubber boot on the penlight, then
• Take the penlight and fiber into a dark room and point the fiber end at a nearby wall.
• Grip the middle portion of the fiber in your fist so you enclose several inches of its length. Has
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mm fiber as soon as the penlight is turned on.
Gripping the fiber with your hand has no effect on the
light intensity emerging from the fiber end. (Moving
the fiber around in the rubber boot may vary the fiber
end's output intensity.)
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central fiber core and trapped inside by the outer cladding layer. Light intensity doesn't change when
you grip the fiber in your fist because the refractive index (optical density) immediately surrounding the
central core doesn't change as it did in previous experiments. The cladding layer remains constant and
acts as an optical shield between the fiber core and the optical density of your hand.
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commonly used materials in commercial optical fibers. The other material is glass — commonly called
"silica" in the technical community.
Commercial fiber is very pure and has a protective "cladding"
The acrylic rod used in previous experiments carries light from one end to the other, but it
In the illustration to the right is a basic optical fiber, with
Penlight with batteries
Black rubber penlight boot
2 mm (.08 inch) diameter optical fiber, 50 cm (20 inches) long
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turn the penlight on.
the light coming out of the fiber's tip decreased,
increased, or stayed the same in intensity? How
does this compare to what happened when you
gripped the 3 mm diameter plastic rod? Turn
the penlight off.
::::
Light should be visible exiting the end of the 2
::::
Light is transmitted from one end of the fiber to the other because light is being guided by the
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The fiber you just finished experimenting with is made of plastic. It is one of the two most
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Cladding
Core
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