Total Internal Reflection Post for Wen Kai and Jit Sheng

Fibre Optics:

A fiber optic is a glass "hair" which is so thin that once light enters one end, it can never strike the inside walls at less than the critical angle. The light undergoes total internal reflection each time it strikes the wall. Only when it reaches the other end is it allowed to exit the fiber.

Fiber optic cables are used to carry telephone and computer communications. Advantages over electrical wired include:

1. Fiber optics can carry much more information in a much smaller cable.
2. No interference from electromagnet fields result in "clearer" connections.
3. No electrical resistance.
4. No hazard of electrocution if cable breaks.

Source:

http://regentsprep.org/Regents/physics/phys04/captotint/default.htm

Rain sensors to control automatic windscreen/windshield wipers.

Gait analysis instrument, CatWalk, uses frustrated total internal reflection in combination with a high speed camera to capture and analyze footprints of laboratory rodents.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_internal_reflection

Members: Lhu Wen Kai, Seah Jit Sheng