Have you ever wondered how your computer works? The answer is with the help of glass! Pieces of glass can be made into tiny threads, thinner than a single piece of hair. These are used to send messages between some computers and telephones.
Thin pieces of glass can send messages.
Glass can be made into an optical fibre. This is a rod made of a very thin glass tube, coated in a layer of plastic. Lots of fibres are bundled together in cables. The fibres send light messages and pictures around corners. Flashes of light pass down the optical fibre. These flashes of light are like a code.
Glass helps doctors see inside a person’s body.
Optical fibres can carry lots of information, and work very quickly. They are used in special medical instruments that help doctors look inside a person’s body. These instruments are called endoscopes.
This picture shows light going through a glass fibre.
The inside of an optical fibre acts like a perfect mirror. When light enters the fibre, it is reflected many times inside the fibre. In this way, the light is carried up to 100 kilometres in a single optical fibre. That’s further than crossing the English Channel to France, and back!
