Telegraph The invention that got electronic communications started was the telegraph. It was invented by Samuel Morse in 1836. He also developed the Morse Code which allowed the signals that the telegraph sent over the wires to represent words and phrases. Telephone Around 40 years after the telegraph, Alexander Graham Bell received the patent for the telephone. Now instead of just beeps of sound, a person's voice could be transmitted over long distances of electric wires. Later inventions like faxes and modems would allow other information to pass over the same wires. Large switching networks were built throughout the world and telephones in nearly every home could all talk to each other.  Fiber optic tubes of glass use light pulses to communicate
Fiber Optics As the amount of information has grown, more and more data needs to be transmitted over long distances. One of the ways to send data faster is with fiber optics. Fiber optics are actual long skinny tubes (like wires) make of glass. Instead of electricity they transmit light. Light can travel at much faster speeds and over longer distances than electrical pulses. There are fiber optic connections today that can send 100 billion signals per second! Radio Frequency Radios have been used for a long time, but in the 1990s cell phones started to become popular. Cell phones send information using radio frequencies through the air. New technologies have allowed for faster signals and even video to be sent to and from cell phones.  Cell phones use radio frequencies to communicate through the air
Internet Perhaps the most important invention in the area of electronic communications during recent times is the internet. The internet is made up of millions of electrical and fiber optic links. These links form a network and information get passed and "switched" all over the world. More information is now available at your fingertips and on your computer at home than you could hope to read in a lifetime. Fun facts about Electronic Communications
Take a quick 10 question quiz on electricity. Electricity Experiments: Electronic Circuit - Create an electronic circuit. Static Electricity - What is static electricity and how does it work? More subjects on electricity: Electricity 101 Electricity 102 Digital Electronics Electronic Communications Uses of Electricity Static Electricity Magnetism Back to Kids Science Page Back to Kids Study Page |
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