8B

Shannon Sweeney

Miss.Hale
 Your task is to answer the following questions:

3b Question 1a
What are fibre optics and give a short description of how they
work? A diagram may be useful.
Fibre optics are wires that are very thin and delicate. They are
used to transport data from one place to another. They are more
reliable and faster than copper wires.

This is an endoscope this is an example of a product

that would use fibre optics. As you can see the fibres are thin and look
very delicate. And as you can see by the end of the fibres that data is
transported from one product to another.

5d Question 1b
Describe how an understanding of total internal reflection has
helped scientists to develop endoscopes and phones.
 Total internal reflection has helped make endoscopes as
endoscopes have a light on the end. And light reflects off
everything in your insides. So the surgeons can see everything
inside your body. If you don’t understand this then I will give you
a definition of total internal reflection. Everything reflects light
(reflects not gives off), internal means inside and total means
everything. So if you put everything together you get everything
inside reflects light.

Question 2
Two uses for fibre optics is communication and endoscopes
For each use answer these questions
4b Question 2a USE:
Describe what it is replacing
Fibre optics is now replacing copper land lines.

3c Question 2b
4c Show how this new technique is an improvement over existing
6b techniques.
6d Fibre optics are replacing copper land lines because they are
faster. They just get the information there faster. The copper is
also unreliable as the fibres from the fibre optics are much less
chance of data being lost.

4a Question 2c
5c Describe the advantages and disadvantages of this use for fibre
6d optics
The advantages are that fibre optics are much more reliable to
get data to the selected place and are much more faster but the
disadvantages are it costs a lot more and the fibres are much
more delicate so if they bent too far they will lose light reflective
properties and this will cost a lot of money to repair because of
the complexity of the fibres.

5a Question 2d
What might the people using this technique think about it? Give
reasons to back up your ideas. Why good or bad?
People might think it was a waste of money to spend so much on
something that doesn’t really make much difference and then to
 find out that it has broken and needs to be fixed even more.
Additionally there is always interference and complications with
the landlines when it is being installed.

6a Question 2e
6b Has the technique made an impact on life in other countries?
Fibre optics has affected very little countries over the world. To
be exact it has only affected less than one percent of the world’s
internet and communications.
As it costs so much and there is a lot of people in poverty around
the world then there is no money to fund this upgrade for many
homes and lots of places in the world don’t even have televisions or
homes (Africa).

Question 2
Two uses for fibre optics is communication and endoscopes
For each use answer these questions
4b Question 2a USE:
Describe what it is replacing
Endoscopes are now replacing exploratory surgery.

3c Question 2b
4c Show how this new technique is an improvement over existing
6b techniques.
6d Endoscopes are much safer than exploratory surgery as it is much
more likely that a complication will happen in surgery than if you
were using an endoscope. Additionally if you use the endoscope
then the product will transport the data to a computer and can
look at the photos in much more details as you can zoom in further
than the human eyes. For example if you are looking for a bleed in
a patient with internal bleeding the surgeons had to perform
exploratory surgery to find the bleed but now you can just
perform a endoscopy.

4a Question 2c
5c Describe the advantages and disadvantages of this use for fibre
6d optics
The problem with endoscopes is that they are a lot of money.
The hospitals are underfunded as it is and they are delicate
and can easily break.
Also if there is a complication in surgery and something goes
wrong with the patients breathing and the tube is somewhere
in the small intestine then it will take precious time to take
the endoscope out.
Additionally if the endoscope causes a tear in lets say the
small intestine then the villi won’t just be affected if this
causes internal bleeding or if it causes a tear in the trachea.

Even though there is a significantly less chance of internal

bleeding and there won’t be a scar. There is more chance that
there will be problems in exploratory surgery than with
endoscopes.
Additionally with endoscopes they film the footage so that an
M.D. (medical diagnostician) or anyone with medical knowledge
can look back and spot something that could have been missed
by the person who first looked at the video. And I think it is
more likely you will spot something in the video than in
exploratory surgery as with the video you can pause or
magnify.
5a Question 2d
What might the people using this technique think about it? Give
reasons to back up your ideas. Why good or bad?
I think the surgeons will like this as there is less chance they
can actually cut into something accidentally. And they wont
have to have on their conscience someone who died by a basic
problem with standard surgery. Also they’re stats wont go
down.
The patient will be happy that there is less chance of dying on
the operating table with an endoscopy than a surgery which
opposes more risks.

6a Question 2e
6b Has the technique made an impact on life in other countries?
It has made an impact on countries that can afford the
equipment but also only some parts of the country can afford
this equipment (certain hospitals). America can afford this
type of equipment but some places in the world cant.
3 AF2
Understanding the applications and implications of science
To reach this level I could have:
a described some uses of fibre optics.
b stated that information can be carried from place to place using light reflections.
c explained that using light to carry speech when we use a telephone has improved
the quality of what we hear.
4 AF2
Understanding the applications and implications of science
To reach this level I could have:
a described some of the improvements that there have been in medicine due to the
development of fibre optics as well as any drawbacks, e.g. investment in new
technologies.
b explained that fibre optics are replacing copper wires.
c described the use of fibre optics to look inside people without cutting them open.
5 AF2
Understanding the applications and implications of science
To reach this level I could have:
a explained why healthcare staff like endoscopes, e.g. they are quick to use, but
some patients may be worried, e.g. having to swallow an endoscope.
b described how the development of endoscopes has affected doctors, e.g.
retraining, less surgical time needed; and patients, e.g. faster recovery, better to use in
parts of the world where infection is difficult to control.
c explained why the use of fibre optics has improved survival rate of operations, but
sometimes the use of an endoscope can cause its own complications.
d described how an understanding of total internal reflection helped scientists to
develop endoscopes.
6 AF2
Understanding the applications and implications of science
To reach this level I could have:
a described how fibre optics have made a significant impact in more developed
countries.
b explained how the installation of fibre optic cables affects the people living in those
countries, e.g. clearer phone calls, faster data transfer allowing faster trading; and the
companies that make the cables, e.g. making more profit.
c explained how the development of fibre optics has lead to developments in glass
making.
d described the benefits to patients of fibre optic investigations compared to invasive
surgery

Task 23 Bending light 2 – Level ladder

Task 23 Bending light