MITRC REFRESHER COURSE ANSWER KEY

Fiber Optics
1. A transparent material along which we can
transmit light is called
a. Fiber optics
b. Flashlight
c. An optic fiber
d. Xenon bulb

c. Transmission medium
d. 48 v power supply
11. Optical fibers can be made out of
a. Glass
b. Plastic
c. Combination of both
d. Any of these
12. In ________, the core has an index of refraction
that changes continuously from the center to the
outside.
a. Step index
b. Graded index
c. Monomode
d. Multimode

2. A simple fiber optic system would consist of

a. A light source, an optic fiber and a
photoelectric cell
b. A laser, an optic fiber and an LED
c. A copper coaxial cable, a laser and a
photoelectric cell
d. An LED, a CRT and a light source
3. Optic fiber is normally made from
a. Coherent glass and xenon
b. Copper
c. Water
d. Silica glass or plastic

13. The following are causes of attenuation and loss

of optical power within the fiber except
a. Microbending loss
b. Connector loss
c. Splicing loss
d. Ohmic loss

4. The following are the advantages of optical fiber

system except
a. Greater capacity
b. Crosstalk immunity
c. Safer to handle
d. Lower initial cost of installation

14. For a signal to be propagated through the optical

fiber, the angle of incidence should be________
the critical angle.
a. Greater than
b. Less than
c. Equal to
d. None of these

5. Plastic fibers have the following advantages over

glass fibers except
a. Flexibility
b. Ease of installation
c. Ruggedness
d. Low attenuation

15. A ray of light in a transparent material of refractive

index 1.5 is approaching a material with a
refractive index of 1.48. At the boundary, the
critical angle is
a. 90 degrees
b. 9.4 degrees
c. 75.2 degrees
d. 80.6 degrees

6. This explains how a light may react when it meets

the interface of two transmission materials that
have different indices of refraction.
a. Huygens' Law
b. Nyquist's Theorem
c. Snell's Law
d. Quantum Theory

16. The first material has a refractive index of 1.51

and the angle of incidence is 38 degrees and the
second material has a refractive index of 1.46.
What is the angle of refraction?
a. 30.55 degrees
b. 39.55 degrees
c. 75.2 degrees
d. 40.55 degrees

7. In Optical fibers,
a. The core and cladding have the same index of
refraction
b. The core and cladding have the same area
c. The core surrounds the cladding
d. The cladding surrounds the core
8. A type of fiber whereby light rays take many paths
between the source and the receiver.
a. Monomode
b. Multimode
c. Single mode
d. Step index

17. If the refractive index of the core of an optic fiber

was 1.47 and that of the cladding was 1.44,the
cone of acceptance would have an angle of
approximately
a. 17.19 degrees
b. 72.82 degrees
c. 78.4 degrees
d. 34.36 degrees

9. A figure of merit used to measure the light

gathering or light collection ability of the optical
fiber.
a. Acceptance angle
b. Numerical aperture
c. Acceptance cone
d. Critical angle

18. In free space, light travels at approximately

a. 186000 m/sec
b. 3 x 10exp9 m/sec
c. 300 m/sec
d. 0.3m/nsec
19. Scattering loss is caused by
a. Insufficient stirring of the ingredients during
manufacture
b. Changes in the density of the fiber due to
uneven rates of cooling

10. The basic optical fiber communications system

consists of the following except
a. Optical source
b. Photodetector
1

MITRC REFRESHER COURSE

Optics

Fiber

c.

Microscopic cracks in the cladding which allow

leakage of the vacuum in the core
d. Impurities in the fiber

d. ATM
29. Two digital signals whose transmission occur at
almost the same rate are
a. Plesiochronous
b. Synchronous
c. Asyncronous
d. Mesochronous

20. Cleaving is the process of

a. Removing the cladding before connecting
fibers together
b. Cutting the end of the fiber in preparation
for connecting two fibers
c. Cleaning the surface of optic fibers
d. Inspecting fibers for flaws

30. SONET systems are

a. Twisted pair copper based technology
b. Fiber optic technology
c. Hybrid fiber coax technology
d. Wireless technology

21. A typical value of insertion loss for a mechanical

splice
a. -50 dB
b. 0.2 dB
c. 12 mm
d. 3 dB
22. The speed of light in a transparent material
a. Is always the same regardless of the material
chosen
b. Is never greater than the speed of light in
free space
c. Increases if the light enters a material with a
higher refractive index
d. Is slowed down by a factor of 1 million within
the first 60 meters

31. The band of light wavelengths that are too long to

be seen by the human eye.
a. Amber
b. Visible
c. Infrared
d. Ultraviolet
32. Which color has the shortest wavelength of light?
a. Red
b. Yellow
c. Blue
d. Green

23. The following are light detectors in fiber optic

communications system except
a. ILD
b. PIN diode
c. APD
d. None of these

33. The loss of signal power as it travels down the

fiber is called
a. Dispersion
b. Scattering
c. Absorption
d. Attenuation

24. The following are three distinct regions of an

optical fiber except
a. Core
b. Cladding
c. Jacket
d. Coating

34. What is a specific path the light takes in an optical

fiber, corresponding to a certain angle and number
of reflections?
a. Mode
b. Grade
c. Numerical aperture
d. Dispersion

25. The maximum angle in which external light rays

may strike the air fiber interface and still propagate
down the fiber
a. Critical angle
b. Acceptance angle
c. Numerical aperture
d. Beamwidth

35. The width of the range of wavelengths emitted by

light source.
a. Bandwidth
b. Chromatic dispersion
c. Spectral width
d. Beamwidth

26. Which of the following combinations is impossible

for optical fibers?
a. Plastic core and cladding
b. Glass core and cladding
c. Plastic core and glass cladding
d. Glass core and plastic cladding

36. Which theory states that light wave behaves as if it

consists of many tiny particles?
a. Huygens'
b. Nyquist's
c. Doppler's
d. Quantum

27. The scientist who coined the term "Fiber Optics"

a. Hopkins
b. Hansel
c. Kapany
d. Van Heel

37. Fiber optic cables operate at frequencies near

a. 20 MHz
b. 200 MHz
c. 2 GHz
d. 800 THz

28. A technology for carrying many signals of different

capacities through a synchronous, flexible optical
hierarchy.
a. PDH
b. SDH
c. SONET

38. When a beam of light enters one medium from

another, which quantity will not change?
a. Direction
b. Speed
c. Frequency
d. None of these
2

MITRC REFRESHER COURSE ANSWER KEY

Fiber Optics
d. All of these
39. Dispersion caused by the difference in the
propagation times of light rays that take different
paths down the fiber.
a. Material
b. Wavelength
c. Modal
d. Delay

49. The coupling loss due to angular deviation from

the optimum alignment of source to the fiber optic
cable
a. Lateral misalignment
b. Gap misalignment
c. Angular misalignment
d. Numerical aperture loss

40. A non-coherent light source for optical

communications system.
a. ILD
b. LED
c. APD
d. PIN diode

50. Which of the following is used to protect the core

and the cladding of the fiber?
a. Insulation
b. Plastic
c. Glass
d. Kevlar strength members

41. The numerical aperture of a fiber if the angle of

acceptance is 15 degrees is
a. 0.17
b. 0.26
c. 0.50
d. 0.75

51. Determine the acceptance angle of light passing to

a glass having a refractive index of 1.56 to ethyl
having a refractive index of 1.51.
a. 17.7 degrees
b. 21.3 degrees
c. 23 degrees
d. 25 degrees
52. Calculate the energy of the photon of infrared light
energy at 1.55 um.
a. 1.28 x 10exp-19 J
b. 1.6 x 10exp19 J
c. 1.22 x 10exp-16 J
d. 1.9 x 10exp-14 J

42. Single frequency light is called

a. Pure
b. Intense
c. Coherent
d. Monochromatic

43. What is the unit of light wavelength?

a. Micron
b. Angstrom
c. Mils
d. Fathom

53. The amount of power per unit area in optical fiber

is called
a. Irradiance
b. Radiance
c. Reflectance
d. Permeance
54. Light at 1.55 um in air has what energy in eV?
a. 1.2 eV
b. 1 eV
c. 0.6 eV
d. 0.8 eV

44. A high speed LAN defined by ANSI using fiber

optic cables
a. NTSC
b. SDH
c. FDDI
d. SONET
45. What is the process of using two or more light
sources at different wavelengths each separately
modulated with the same fiber?
a. SDH
b. FDM
c. TDM
d. WDM

55. An object farther from a converging lens than its

focal point always has an ____ image.
a. Virtual
b. The same in size
c. Inverted
d. Smaller size
56. What parts of the body are most sensitive to laser
damage?
a. Hair
b. Nails
c. Eye and skin
d. Teeth

46. The European standard for synchronous

transmission over fiber optic networks.
a. NTSC
b. SDH
c. FDDI
d. SONET

57. Who was the first person who actually produced

laser light?
a. Maiman
b. Edison
c. Einstein
d. Volta

47. What is the light source typically used in single

mode optical fiber?
a. Phototransistor
b. Laser
c. Photoresistor
d. LED

58. One of the advantages of fiber optics which is

referred to the volume of capacity of signals it can
carry.
a. Security
b. Weight

48. An OTDR is used for

a. Fault location
b. Splice and connector evaluation
c. Loss per unit length measurement
3

MITRC REFRESHER COURSE

Optics

Fiber

c. Bandwidth
d. Physical size

c. Optimon
d. Soliton

59. 1 micron is equal to _____ meters.

a. 10exp-6
b. 10exp-12
c. 10exp-15
d. 10exp-18

69. Where can one found a fiber to detector

connector?
a. Transmitter
b. Receiver
c. LED circuit block
d. Analog transmitter block

60. The small proportion of light scattered by Rayleigh

scattering which is returned towards the source.
a. Optoscatter
b. Standing waves
c. Return loss
d. Backscatter

70. What skin damage occurs when exposed to laser

radiation?
a. Erythema
b. Hematoma
c. Gout
d. Eczema

61. Dispersion caused by different wavelengths

contained in the transmitted light.
a. Intermodal
b. Chromatic
c. Optical
d. Any of these
62. A ray that always passes through the core axis as
it is propagated
a. Axial
b. Meridional
c. Skew
d. Direct
63. The typical cladding diameter of an optical fiber
a. 8 um
b. 10 to 100 um
c. 125 um
d. 800 to 1550 um
64. The typical core diameter of an optical fiber is
a. 8 um
b. 62.5 um
c. 125 um
d. 800 to 1550 um
65. A reflection that occurs from a surface whenever
there is a sudden change in the refractive index at
the end of the fiber.
a. Total internal
b. Reflection loss
c. Fresnel reflection
d. Backscatter
66. The first device used to transmit voice using light
as a carrier
a. Edison bulb
b. Phonograph
c. Photophone
d. Lincompex
67. An elementary quantity of radiant energy which
can be considered as particles of light.
a. Photons
b. Lumens
c. Electrons
d. Optimons
68. What is the wave or pulse that does not disperse
or lose its shape as it propagates through a
medium?
a. Photon
b. Coherent source
4