By the Numbers

By the Numbers

Numbers help us understand things. They tell us how big something is, how far away it is, how much time passes and a bunch more. Let’s explore the numbers for fiber optics.

1. The first commercial fiber optic installations occurred about _____ years ago.

Correct Answer: 50

2. Some of the oldest fiber optic cables still in use, optical power ground wire used in electrical transmission networks, are _____ years old.

Correct Answer: 40

3. Glass optical fiber, with a diameter of _____, is about the size of a human hair.

Correct Answer: 125 microns

4. Fiber optics terms are usually expressed in the metric system. In the English system, optical fiber is about _____ inches in diameter.

Correct Answer: 0.005

5. Multimode fiber attenuates a signal by about half or _____ decibels (dB) in 1 kilometer.

Correct Answer: 3

6. A typical fusion splice with single-mode fiber has a loss of _____ dB.

Correct Answer: 0.1

7. TIA standard TIA-568 says the connection loss with two mated connectors should be less than _____ dB.

Correct Answer: 0.75

8. In the race to get more data through an optical fiber cable, manufacturers have made cables with up to _____ fibers.

Correct Answer: 6,912

9. Data rates have gotten faster in fiber optics, with speeds over _____ now being used routinely.

Correct Answer: 100 gigabits/second

10. More fibers, faster speeds and even up to _____ wavelengths can be multiplexed on a single fiber to enhance data capacity.

Correct Answer: 100

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