Inside a tube, atoms of helium and neon are excited by a current of electricity. As the atoms become excited, they give off photons, the smallest unit of light. These photons shoot out of the end of the laser in a stream of red light. In this stream, thousands of phone calls and bits of data can be sent. The goal of the class is to send voice data over the longest possible length of optic fiber.
Pupils hope to reach from one end of the school to the other.
In order to create fibers longer than Thode s arm length, Fuller, Werley and Dankanyin have developed a spooling system above the furnace in the clean room. They hope to start a thread of optic fiber, attach it to the spool and slowly wind up the length they want. If they can solve the length problem, no doubt Thode will have another problem to lead them through. But the pupils don t seem to mind. Words like exciting and fun frequently come out of their mouths when asked how they like the class.