Fibre optic cables

How does the exhibit work?

Place an emoji on one plate. You will see the emoji appear on the other plate.

What is the science behind it?

Sending an emoji is as easy as pie. If you put an emoji on one plate, it will appear mirrored on the other plate.

How does this happen? Thanks to the cables that connect the two plates. These are very thin cables made of glass. Hence the name fibre optic cables. The light rays from the lamp above one plate pass through the coloured, plastic emojis and then fall onto the fibre optic cables. The light rays bounce around in the cables. The rays cannot escape. This is how the cables conduct the light quickly to the other side.

Why is the emoji mirrored? Simple! Fibre optic cables that leave on the right side of one plate arrive on the left and vice versa.

Fibre optic cables for super-fast internet

Fibre optic cables allow you to surf the internet at super speed. Pieces of information (letters, numbers, images, etc.) are sent through the cables as flashing light signals. The receiving device translates these light signals back into information.

These signals travel at the speed of light over long distances so that you can stream a series without it faltering!

Interested in how a computer translates light signals into information? Make sure to check out "Digitising images".