Eli5: How does data move through fiber optic cables?

Question

I understand that there are 1’s and 0’s (on/off) in binary code to transmit data, but does the light inside the fiber optic flash billions of times per second to simulate the 1’s and 0’s? Im also curious if copper ethernet cables work in a similar way to transmit data.

In: Technology

Answer 1

Basically yes, the light flashes on an off billions of times per second. The actual data is encoded in a very sophisticated manner to reduce the actual flash rate but in the most fundamental sense, it’s still ‘Morse code.’

Ditto on the copper…