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Circuits
Overachieving and under-appreciated, circuits are the foundation that our technological society is built on. Now's your chance to find out not only how they work, but why. Questions regarding the physics behind voltage, resistance, capacitance, inductance, transistors, LEDs, switches, and power supplies; and how they're used to create analog and digital circuits, should be directed here.
1,646 Questions
What happen when there is a break in the path circuit?
Current through that part of the circuit will stop.
What is the other name for staircase wiring?
I've seen it called "hallway wiring".
The idea is the same in both cases . . . there's a switch at both ends, and either switch
can turn the light on and off, regardless of the position of the other switch.
That way, a single person can turn the light on at one end of the hallway or staircase,
walk up the stairs or through the hallway, and turn the light off when he reaches the
other end.
What is the difference between AND and OR gate?
The difference is in their truth tables.
AND gate: The output is true when inputs 'A' AND'B' are both true.
A | B | Output
0 | 0 | 0
0 | 1 | 0
1 | 0 | 0
1 | 1 | 1
OR gate: The output is true when either input 'A' OR input 'B' is true.
A | B | Output
0 | 0 | 0
0 | 1 | 1
1 | 0 | 1
1 | 1 | 1
What is classification.Why classification of materials is very important in daily life?
Classification is the putting of objects in to different categories or 'classes'. It is important because it helps people find certain objects with certain features quickly and efficiently.
What charectristics an electric circuit exhibit under max power transfer condition?
Max power transfer takes place when the total load impedance
is equal to the source (power supply) internal impedance.
What role does switch play in an electric circuit?
a switch is used to isolate the a flow of current through a circuit , by breaking its connection, there is often a switch at the beginning of a circuit which would isolate the supply - voltage , from the load or " circuit " ,
in terms of higher - rated voltage circuits ( mains power) ;
the switch performs a safety function where it provides a quick , safe and effective means of swathing off the circuit , providing a safety function - purpose , allowing the user to quickly remove power in the event of an emergency ,
for the switch to carry out its duty, it needs to have an air gap across its contacts contained within , rated so that at the designed/ rated voltage it maintains safety isolation / not allowing an electric arc / spark to jump across the gap .
What is an electrical part called a resistor?
It is a component or substance which reduces the flow of electricity in a circuit. Their will be one in your mobile phone charger to stop 240/230 volts being routed into your phone( which would probably charge it very quickly but then it would blow up!) Also a resistor is the opposite of a conductor i.e something that resists conducting electricity.
Can you use a copper wire to make a filament of an electric bulb?
No, copper wire cannot be used to make the filament of an electric bulb as copper wire has very low resistance. Therefore, the bulb will not glow if current is passed.
It would also melt - the filament has to be white-hot to be any use!
The current depends on the total effecvtive resistance of everything connected
across the battery.
If the bulb is the only component there, then the current is E/R = 9/12 = 0.75 amperes.
What does an ameter do in a circuit?
An Ammeter provides a visual display of the magnitude of the current flowing through it.
Ideally, the ammeter does nothing "in the circuit". You don't want your test equipment
to change anything going on in the circuit you're measuring.
Before you spend that kind of money, try the simple things first.
If the transformer housing is bolted together and/or bolted to
the chassis of the amp, tighten all the bolts.
Even if there are no bolts visible, do some experimenting with
a strong clamp: With the amp turned on and the transformer
humming away, go around the transformer housing and apply
the clamp to it, carefully, in various places and in various directions.
You may find a place where putting the squeeze on it either stops
or reduces the hum.
One other thought: A humming transformer can be an overloaded one.
If the transformer gets extremely hot after the amp operates for a
while, and especially if smoke ever comes out of the amp, then the
humming is a definite clue that there is a problem, but the problem
is not the transformer.
What is the ability to regulate the amount of charge flowing in a circuit is called?
Resistance is the ability to regulate the amount of charge flowing in a circuit.
mi stands for moving iron in ammeter used only in alternating current circuits
Which one is better potentiometer or voltmeter?
Neither is better or worse than the other. A potentiometer is an adjusting device usually for voltage while a voltmeter is a device for measuring the voltage. They are just two different things.
What are resistors in IC made of?
Resistor in IC are made of semiconductor structures in a manner similar to transistors and PN junctions
Can a capacitor be used in the Thevenin Theorem?
Sure, but it won't mean anything unless the Thevenin source is an AC source.
In that case, simply determine the frequency of the source, and draw the
appropriate reactance in the circuit where the capacitor belongs.
If the Thevenin source is DC, then the frequency is zero, the reactance of the
capacitor is infinite, and you can show it as an open circuit, i.e. not there.
What happens if the AC frequency generated by local power companies drops below 50-60 Hz?
If the frequency of the AC mains decreases, then all of the electric clocks in
your house will run slow and lose time. For example, if the 60 Hz utility drops
to 59.9 Hz and stays there, then your clocks will be 2minutes and 24seconds
behind the correct time after one day. This is a fairly serious amount, and a
tight restriction on the required accuracy. Several years ago, when I was
working briefly in the dispatch and control center of the electric utility in a
major US city, they showed me the frequency monitor, and explained that
if the frequency goes low, for example, for some period of time, then they
were responsible to then run it high, for just the right length of time so that
all the clocks in the city would return to the correct time. I'm quite sure that
all of that is totally obsolete now, since the major utilities now buy and sell
and share each others' power, and in order to do that, they all have to be
exactly at the same frequency and phase.
If the AC mains were to go down significantly in frequency, then all of
the motors in your house ... like the ones in your furnace, air conditioner,
refrigerator, freezer, ceiling fans, etc. ... would operate weakly, overheat,
and possibly burn out if things stayed like that for too long.
What is the relationship between frequency and the size of a transformer?
Basically the characteristics of a transformer depends on the impedance(resistance) and on the coupling of its primary and secondary coils.
The impedance of a coil depends on the frequency, as the frequency increases you need less volume of iron core and less number of turns in the coil for a given impedance, then reducing the size of the transformer.
What is propagation delay time?
It's the time it takes a radio signal to travel from one place to another, the time it
takes a light beam to travel from one end of the fiberoptic cable to the other end,
the time it takes an electrical signal to travel from one side of a circuit board to the
other side, etc., things like that.
If you're listening to the baseball game on the radio, it doesn't much matter how
long it took the signal to reach you from the transmitting tower. But if the radio
signal is being used to control a high-speed passenger train, or a drone aircraft
on a counter-insurgency mission, or a robotic rover digging in the dirt on Mars,
then the time it takes the radio signal to get there does make a difference.
This is due to the fact that without some sophisticated electroics, a circuit once built will behave reliably in terms of resistance and power consumption. We also know that flowing current is the function of voltage over resistance (I=U/R). Armed with that knowledge, let's tackle this problem.
Devices are built to utilize a specific supply voltage, and their components are selected precisely to fit it. If the device itself isn't adapted to voltage variations, then:
- too high a voltage will cause component (and subsequently, device) failure, as components burn out or even explode (incidentally, this is also why frequent voltage spikes cause incandescent light bulbs, television and radio sets (among other things) to fail prematurely), and
- too low a voltage will cause a brownout (not enough current flowing through the device to ensure reliable operation) - and this may lead to device failure as well... not to mention that many protective components are also tailored to the typical supply voltage and may lose their function in such situations; mains voltage rarely loses its killing potential, however.
As many of our electronics are built with a very specific voltage in mind, most of them would fail spectacularily in case of significant variations of mains voltage.
This mindset includes their protection mechanisms as well! CRT television sets, microwave ovens, boilers and heaters would all be potentially extra prone to dangerous failures in such cases (leading to exposure to x-rays, microwaves, and dangerous voltages, respectively). These devices are well protected from such problems mainly due to this potential, but no protection is perfect.
Not to mention that electrical grids are constructed toward a specific operating voltage range as well (as are cables) - significant, prolonged overvoltage might cause them to melt or to catch fire.
Which is why the prevention of such problems requires the cooperation of your power company as well.
