What are some common components of cable?

What will be an ideal response?

First, a cable must have a conductor over which a signal can be conducted. The conductor will either be copper wire for twisted-wire pair and coaxial cables or glass or plastic strands for fiber-optic cables. For copper, the conductor, called the carrier wire, might be solid or stranded, and the conductor's diameter might be measured in inches, centimeters, or millimeters. The American Wire Gauge (AWG) is another common means for specifying the diameter of a wire conductor. For fiber-optic cables, the conductor is called the core. The core can be either a glass or plastic tube that runs through the cable. The core's diameter is measured in microns, which are millionths of a meter. Secondly, a cable's conductor has some type of insulation that is used to keep the signal in and external interferences out. For electrical wire, the insulation is usually made from some type of nonconductor, such as polyethylene. Fiber-optic insulation is called cladding. The cladding is made of a material with a lower refraction index than the core's material. The refraction index measures the ability of a material to reflect light rays. For fiber-optic cables, a cladding with a lower refraction index than the core ensures that light bounces back off the cladding and remains in the core. Finally, a cable also has some type of outer sheath, or jacket, which encases the cable's elements and keeps them together. The sheath can also serve to provide some measure of protection from environmental forces such as water, pressure, or heat.