Summarize the key terms and causes of attenuation in communication systems.

Here's a summary of your notes on Communication: Communication is about sharing information, ideas, or feelings between people or groups to create mutual understanding. It involves a sender sending a message through a medium (channel) to a receiver. For it to be effective, the information needs to be encoded (transformed into a signal) by the sender and decoded (extracted from the signal) by the receiver. Key Terms: Encoding: Turning information into a signal (like electrical signals). Encoder: The device that does the encoding. Decoding: Getting information back from a received signal. Decoder: The device that does the decoding. Channel/Medium: The path the signal travels through. Signal: The encoded information moving through the channel. Storage: Keeping information in a medium for later use. Retrieval: Getting stored signals back from a channel. Attenuation: The weakening* of a signal's strength (power) as it travels. This happens because the signal's energy is absorbed, spread out, or diffracted. Causes of Attenuation: Electrical signals in wires: Lose energy as heat due to the wire's resistance*. Longer wires mean more loss. Radio waves: Weaken as they spread out over a larger area and are absorbed by the transmission medium. Light pulses in optical fiber: Scattering (Dispersion): Light spreads out due to tiny imperfections in the fiber, causing the pulse to broaden. Absorption: Light energy is lost due to impurities in the glass material. Crosstalk: This is when a signal from one circuit accidentally interferes with another nearby circuit, creating an unwanted effect. For example, when you're tuning a radio to one station but faintly hear another. That's 2 down. 3 left today — send the next one.