Certified Fiber Optics Practice Exam 2026 – All-in-One Guide to Mastering Your Certification!

The basic unit of optical power is measured in watts. Optical power refers to the amount of energy that the light beam carries per unit time, and watts are the standard metric unit used to quantify this energy.

While decibels can be used to express power levels in a logarithmic scale, particularly in telecommunications and fiber optics contexts, they do not measure power directly. Instead, decibels represent a ratio of power levels; for instance, when discussing signal losses or gains in fiber optic systems.

Volts and amperes, on the other hand, relate to electrical measurements rather than optical power. Volts measure electrical potential, whereas amperes measure the flow of electric current. These units are important in the context of electronics and electrical circuits but do not apply to the measurement of optical power. Therefore, the precision of using watts, as the unit for measuring optical power, is what makes it the correct response in this context.