What happens to attenuation if distance increases?

What happens to attenuation if distance increases?

• A. It increases
• B. It decreases
• C. It remains the same
• D. It oscillates

Answer: (A)

Attenuation is the loss of signal strength as it travels through a medium. As distance increases, the signal has more medium to pass through, so more energy is absorbed, scattered, or spread out. This cumulative effect makes the received signal weaker, so attenuation grows with distance. A common way to express this is Attenuation in decibels equals the attenuation coefficient times distance, or the intensity decays exponentially with distance. Therefore, when distance increases, attenuation increases. It wouldn’t decrease or stay the same in typical propagation, and it doesn’t oscillate—the loss simply accumulates with a longer path.

Attenuation is the loss of signal strength as it travels through a medium. As distance increases, the signal has more medium to pass through, so more energy is absorbed, scattered, or spread out. This cumulative effect makes the received signal weaker, so attenuation grows with distance. A common way to express this is Attenuation in decibels equals the attenuation coefficient times distance, or the intensity decays exponentially with distance. Therefore, when distance increases, attenuation increases. It wouldn’t decrease or stay the same in typical propagation, and it doesn’t oscillate—the loss simply accumulates with a longer path.