Question No. 01: What id difference
between power and energy?
Answer: Energy is defined as the
capacity of a physical system to perform work. In the context of electric
circuits, energy (w) is related to power by the following relationship p = vi
=dw/dt
So the
difference is that power is the rate of change of energy.
Question No. 02: What do you mean by
Phasors?
Answer: Addition of two out-of-phase
sinusoidal signals is rather complicated in the time domain. An example could
be the sum of voltages across a series connection of a resistor and an inductor.
Phasors simplify this analysis by considering only the amplitude and phase
components of the sine wave. Moreover, they can be solved using complex algebra
or treated vectorially using a vector diagram.
Question No. 03: What is Corkscrew
Rule?
Answer: As current flows along a
wire, the magnetic field rotates in the direction of a corkscrew.
Question No. 04: Differentiate
between Kirchhoff’s First law and Kirchhoff’s Second law?
Answer:
Kirchhoff’s First law: The total
current leaving a point on an electrical circuit = total current entering
Kirchhoff’s Second law: The sum of the
voltages round any circuit = net “IR” drop in the circuit
Question No. 05: How to calculate
Energy stored in an inductance?
Answer: Energy stored =½ L I2
Joules, where L is in henries and I is in amps
Question No. 06: What is a capacitor
and what does it do?
Answer: Capacitors are widely used as parts of electrical circuits in
many common electrical devices. Unlike a resistor, an ideal capacitor does not dissipate
energy. Instead, a capacitor stores
energy in the form of an electrostatic field between its plates.
Question No. 07: What is Current
Divider Rule (CDR)?
Answer: Current divider rule
provides a useful relationship for determining the current through individual
circuit elements that are connected in parallel.
Question No. 08: What is Voltage
Divider Rule?
Answer: Voltage divider rule
provides a useful formula to determine the voltage across any resistor when two
or more resistors are connected in series with a voltage source.
Question No. 09: What is Current?
Answer: Current can be defined
as the motion of charge through a conducting material. The unit of current is
Ampere whilst charge is measured in Coulombs.
Question No. 10: Could you measure
Voltage in series?
Answer: No, Voltage is always
measured across (in parallel with) a circuit element.
Question No. 11: What is Kirchoff’s
Current Law (KCL)?
Answer: The algebraic sum of all
the currents entering or leaving a node in an electric circuit is equal to
zero. In other words, the sum of currents entering is equal to the sum of
currents leaving the node in an electric circuit.
Question No. 12: Define Super node?
Answer: A super node exists when
an ideal voltage source appears between any two nodes of an electric circuit.
The usual way to solve this is to write KCL equations for both nodes and simply
add them together into one equation ignoring the voltage source in question.
However, this would mean one less equation than the number of variables (node
voltages) present in the circuit. A constraint equation can be easily specified
given by the magnitude of the ideal voltage source present between the nodes and
the respective node voltages. The following example will help clarify this
scenario.
Question No. 13: What does Ampere
turns shows?
Answer: mmf A coil of N turns
carrying a current I amps gives an mmf of NI ampere turns In a vacuum, a
magnetizing force of 1 ampere turn / metre produces a magnetic field of 1.26 × 10-6
tesla.
Question No. 14: What is the
difference between an inductor and a capacitor?
Answer:
An inductor is
a passive electrical device employed in electrical circuits for its property of
inductance. An inductor can
take many forms.
A capacitor is
an electrical/electronic device that can store energy in the electric field
between a pair of conductors (called "plates").
Question No. 15: How does a
capacitor store an electrical charge?
Answer: Electrical Energy
in Capacitor stores in
Potential Charge form.
The energy stored in a capacitor is
almost entirely in the electric field produced between the plates. It takes
energy from a battery or some other power source to move electrons to one of
the plates and away from the other.
Question No. 16: Define Ampere?
Answer: The quantity of total
charge that passes through an arbitrary cross-section of a conducting material
per unit second is defined as an Ampere.
Mathematically,
I =Q/t
or, Q = It
Where, Q is
the symbol of charge measured in Coulombs (C), I is the current in amperes (A)
and t is the time in seconds (s).
Question No. 17: Define Ohm’s Law
for A.C (Alternating Current)?
Answer: Everything else would
remain same only the resistance will be replaced with Impedance, which is
defined as the opposition to the flow of A.C.
Question No. 18: What do you mean by
dependent and independent voltage sources?
Answer: In general, there are
two main types of DC sources
- Independent (Voltage and Current) Sources
- Dependent (Voltage and Current) Sources
An
independent source produces its own voltage and current through some chemical
reaction and does not depend on any other voltage or current variable in the
circuit. The output of a dependent source, on the other hand, is subject to a
certain parameter (voltage or current) change in a circuit element. Herein, the
discussion shall be confined to independent sources only.
Question No. 19: Differentiate
between Magnetic field and Magnetic Flux?
Answer: Magnetic field is B = μ
H where B is in tesla and H = 1.26 × 10-6 times ampere turns/metre
MMF in a solenoid of N turns and current I mmf = (4 m / 10) N I Gilberts.
Whereas
Magnetic flux φ = B A where ø is in weber, B is in tesla and A is in square
meters.
Magnetic
flux in a uniform closed magnetic circuit, length L meters and cross section A
square meters is =1.26NItA × 10-6/ L weber.
Question No. 20: Differentiate
between Induced emf and Self inductance?
Answer: Induced emf, E = - N dφ/dt
where E is in volts, N is number of turns and dφ/dt is in Wb/sec. This equation
is the foundation on which Electrical Engineering is based.
Whereas Self
Inductance E = - L dI/dt, where E is in volts, L is inductance in henneries and
dI/dt is in amps/sec.
Self inductance
of a coil wound on a ring of permeability is L = 1.26 N2 μ A / S ×
10-6 Henneries, where N is number of turns, A is cross sectional
area in m2 and S meters is the length of the magnetic circuit.
Experimental
results for a coil of length S meters, diameter d meters and radial thickness t
meters with at core indicate L = 3 d2 N2 / (1.2 d + 3.5 S
+ 4 t) micro Henneries. (t = 0 for a single layer coil).
Question No. 21: What is the
function of the capacitor?
Answer: A capacitor (originally
known as a condenser) is a passive two-terminal
electrical component used to store energy electrostatically in an electric
field. The forms of practical capacitors vary widely, but all contain at least
two electrical conductors (plates) separated by a dielectric (i.e. insulator).
Question No. 22: Could you measure
current in parallel?
Answer: No, Current is always
measured through (in series with) a circuit element.
Question No. 23: State and define
Ohm’s Law?
Answer: It is the most
fundamental law used in circuit analysis. It provides a simple formula
describing the voltage-current relationship in a conducting material.
Statement: The voltage or potential
difference across a conducting material is
directly proportional to the current flowing through the material.
V ∝ I
V = RI or I
=V/R
or R =V/I
Where, the
constant of proportionality R is called the resistance or electrical
resistance, measured in ohms (Ω).
Question No. 24: Briefly explain the
purpose of Inductor in an electric circuit?
Answer: An inductor is a piece
of conducting wire generally wrapped around a core of a ferromagnetic material.
Like capacitors, they are employed as filters as well but the most well known application
is their use in AC transformers or power supplies that converts AC voltage
levels.
Question No. 25: What is
Superposition Theorem?
Answer: Superposition theorem is
extremely useful for analyzing electric circuits that contains two or more
active sources. In such cases, the theorem considers each source separately to
evaluate the current through or voltage across a component. The resultant is given
by the algebraic sum of all currents or voltages caused by each source acting
independently. Superposition theorem can be formally stated as follows:
“The current
through or voltage across any element in a linear circuit containing several
sources is the algebraic sum of the currents or voltages due to each source
acting alone, all other sources being removed at that time.”
Question No. 26: What is Force on a
conductor in a magnetic field?
Answer: F = B I L Newtons, where
B in tesla, I in amps and L in meters.
Question No. 27: What is an inductor
and what does it do?
Answer: An inductor is a passive electronic
component which is capable of storing electrical energy in the form of magnetic
energy. Basically, it uses a conductor that is wound into a coil, and when
electricity flows into the coil from the left to the right, this will generate
a magnetic field in the clockwise direction.
Question No. 28: At what base you
will tell the direction of rotation of DC Motors and Generators?
Answer: Motors obey the left
hand rule and generators the right hand rule.
Question No. 29: What is the
difference between Voltages or Potential Difference?
Answer: Voltage or potential
difference between two points in an electric circuit is 1V if 1J (Joule) of
energy is expended in transferring 1 C of charge between those points.
It is
generally represented by the symbol V and measured in volts (V). Note that the
symbol and the unit of voltage are both denoted by the same letter; However, it
rarely causes any confusion.
The symbol V
also signifies a constant voltage (DC) whereas a time-varying (AC) voltage is
represented by the symbol v or v (t)
Question No. 30: What does the term
“Voltage Regulation” means?
Answer: Voltage regulation (VR)
is an important measure of the quality of a source. It is used to measure the
variation in terminal voltage between no load (IL =0, open circuit) and full
load (IL = IFL)
Question No. 31: State and define
Norton’s Theorem?
Answer: Thevenin’s equivalent
circuit is a practical voltage source. In contrast, Norton’s equivalent circuit
is a practical current source. This can be formally stated as:
“Any two-terminal,
linear circuit, of resistors and sources, can be replaced by a single current
source in parallel with a resistor.”
To determine
Norton’s equivalent circuit, Norton current, IN, and Norton resistance, RN ,
are required. The following steps outline the procedure required:
- Remove the load resistance, RL.
- IN is the SC current through the load terminals and
- RN is the resistance across the load terminals with all sources replaced by their internal resistances. Clearly RN = RTH.
Question No. 32: What does the term
Power Factor shows?
Answer: The term cos φ is called
the power factor and is an important parameter in determining the amount of
actual power dissipated in the load. In practice, power factor is used to
specify the characteristics of a load.
For a purely
resistive load φ = 0 Degree, hence Unity Power Factor
For a
capacitive type load I leads V, hence Leading power factor
For an
inductive type load I lags V, hence Lagging power factor
Clearly, for
a fixed amount of demanded power P, at a constant load voltage V, a higher
power factor draws less amount of current and hence low I2R losses
in the transmission lines. A purely reactive load where φ → 900 and cos φ → 0
will draw an excessively large amount of current and a power factor correction
is required.
Question No. 33: What is the energy
stored in the magnetic field of the inductor?
Answer: The formula for
the energy stored in
a magnetic field is E
= ½ LI 2. The energy
stored in a magnetic
field is equal to the work needed to produce a current through
the inductor. Energy is stored in a magnetic field.
Question No. 34: What is the
function of Capacitor in Electrical Circuits?
Answer: A capacitor is a passive
circuit element that has the capacity to store charge in an electric field. It
is widely used in electric circuits in the form of a filter.
Question No. 35: What is DC Current
source? Differentiate between ideal and non-ideal current sources
Answer: A current source, unlike
the DC voltage source, is not a physical reality. However, it is useful in
deriving equivalent circuit models of semiconductor devices such as a
transistor. It can also be subdivided into ideal and non-ideal categories.
The Ideal
Current Source By definition, an ideal current source that produces a current
which is independent of the variations in load. In other words the current supplied
by an ideal current source does not change with the load voltage.
Non-Ideal or
Practical Current Source The current delivered by a practical current source
falls off with an increase in load or load voltage.
Question No. 36: What does the term
Super-mesh means?
Answer: A super-mesh exists when
an ideal current source appears between two meshes of an electric circuit. In
such a situation, like super-node, mesh equations are written for the meshes involved
and added giving a single equation. Again, there would be one less equation
than the number of variables (mesh currents) and hence a constraint equation is
needed. This would be based on the magnitude of the ideal current source
present between the two meshes and their mesh currents.
Question No. 37: How to calculate
Energy stored in a capacitance?
Answer: Energy stored = ½ C V2
Joules, where C is in farads and V in volts
Question No. 38: How many Types of
Circuit Loads are there in a Common Electrical Circuit?
Answer: A load generally refers
to a component or a piece of equipment connected to the output of an electric
circuit. In its fundamental form, the load is represented by any one or a
combination of the following:
- Resistor (R)
- Inductor (L)
- Capacitor (C)
A load can
either be of resistive, inductive or capacitive nature or a blend of them. For
example, a light bulb is a purely resistive load where as a transformer is both
inductive and resistive. A circuit load can also be referred to as a sink since
it dissipates energy whereas the voltage or current supply can be termed as a source.
Question No. 39: Differentiate
between ideal and non-ideal voltage sources?
Answer: The Ideal Voltage Source
An ideal voltage source which has a terminal voltage which is independent of
the variations in load. In other words, for an ideal voltage source, the supply
current alters with changes in load but the terminal voltage, VL always remains
constant. Non-Ideal or Practical Voltage Source For a practical source, the
terminal voltage falls off with an increase in load current.
Question No. 40: What is the method
to solve circuit using Source Transformation?
Answer: In an electric circuit,
it is often convenient to have a voltage source rather than a current source
(e.g. in mesh analysis) or vice versa. This is made possible using source
transformations.
It should be
noted that only practical voltage and current sources can be transformed. In
other words, a Thevenin’s equivalent circuit is transformed into a Norton’s one
or vice versa. The parameters used in the source transformation are given as
follows.
Thevenin
parameters: VTH, RTH =⇒ RN
= RTH, IN = VTH/RTH
Norton
parameters: IN, RN =⇒ RTH = RN, VTH = RN IN
Any load
resistance, RL will have the same voltage across, and current through it when
connected across the terminals of either source.
Question No. 41: Differentiate
between Real and Apparent Power?
Answer: It is important to
highlight that in AC circuits, the product of voltage and current yields the
apparent power which is measured in volt-amperes or VA
KW which is
also written ad Kilo-Watt is the real power that is actually converted to the
useful work.
KVAR is also
termed as Kilo-Volt Reactive this power is used for magnetic field excitation
and flows back and forth between source and load.
Question No. 42: At what factor
Resistance R of a conductor depends?
Answer: R = p L (1 + αT) / A
ohms where p is resistivity in ohms per cm cube, L cm is the length, A in cm2
is the cross sectional area, α is temp coefficient and T is the temperature in
degrees Celsius.
Several
sources give Copper p = 1.7 × 10-6 ohms per cm cube and α = 0.004.
At very low Temperatures, the resistance of some materials falls to zero
Question No. 43: Why Inductors are
installed in electrical Circuits?
Answer: An inductor is a piece
of conducting wire generally wrapped around a core of a ferromagnetic material.
Like capacitors, they are employed as filters as well but the most well known application
is their use in AC transformers or power supplies that converts AC voltage
levels.
Question No. 44: What is Maximum
Power Transfer Theorem?
Answer: As discussed in the
section on Thevenin’s theorem, any DC network of sources and resistances can be
replaced by a single voltage source in series with a resistance connected
across the load:
The maximum
power transfer theorem states that the power delivered to the load is maximum
when the load resistance, RL is equal to the internal (source) resistance, Rs
of the DC power supply.
In other
words, it can be said that the load resistance must match the Thevenin’s
resistance for maximum power transfer to take place i.e., (Rs = RTH) = RL
When this
occurs, the voltage across the load resistance will be Vs/2 and the power
delivered to the load is given by which clearly demonstrates maximum power delivered
when Rs = RL. Under this condition, the maximum power will be:
Question No. 45: What does Bode
Plots shows?
Answer: Bode plots are graphical
ways to display the behavior of a circuit over a wide range of frequencies. By
plotting the amplitude and phase versus the logarithm of frequency, each unit
of change on the ω axis is equal to a factor of 10 also called a decade of
frequency. Also, there may be a wide distribution in the amplitude response
over a specified range of frequencies. The usual way is to plot the amplitude
in dB and phase in degrees or radians versus the logarithm of frequency.
Question No. 46: Elaborate Thevenin’s Theorem?
Answer: Thevenin’s theorem
provides a useful tool when solving complex and large electric circuits by
reducing them to a single voltage source in series with a resistor. It is
particularly advantageous where a single resistor or load in a circuit is subject
to change. Formally, the Thevenin’s theorem can be stated as:
“Any two-terminal
linear electric circuit consisting of resistors and sources can be replaced by
an equivalent circuit containing a single voltage source in series with a
resistor connected across the load.”
The
following steps outline the procedure to simplify an electric circuit using Thevenin’s
theorem where VTH and RTH are the Thevenin’s voltage and Thevenin’s resistance
respectively.
- Remove the load resistance RL.
- VTH is the open circuit (OC) voltage across the load terminals
- RTH is the resistance across the load terminals with all sources replaced by their internal resistances.
Question No. 47: Differentiate
between Low Pass, High pass and Band Pass filter?
Answer: Filters form a vital
part in electrical networks especially where a particular frequency range is of
prime concern. For instance, a radio station is broadcasting a transmission at
a frequency of 100 MHz. This means that it is required to design a receiving filter
which allows only 100 MHz frequency to pass through whilst other frequencies
are filtered out. An ideal filter will attenuate all signals with frequencies
less than and greater than 100 MHz thus providing the best channel sound
quality without any distortion.
Low Pass Filter: A low pass Filter
allows low frequencies to pass through the circuit whereas high frequencies are
severely attenuated or blocked.
High Pass Filter: A high pass
filter, as the name suggests, allows high frequencies to pass through the
circuit whilst low frequencies are attenuated or blocked. The cut-off point or
bandwidth concept is the same as in the low pass filter.
Band Pass Filter: A band pass
filter permits a certain band of frequencies to pass through the network which
is adjusted by the designer. It is simply an amalgamation of a low pass and a
high pass filter.
Question No. 48: Distinguish between self-induction and mutual
induction.
Answer:
Self-Induction
- Self-Induction is the characteristic of the coil itself.
- When the main current in the coil decreases, the induced current opposes the decay of current in the coil.
- When the main current in the coil increases, the induced current opposes the growth of current in the coil.
Mutual
induction
- Mutual induction is the characteristic of a pair of coils.
- When the main current in the coil decreases, induced current developed in the neighboring coil opposes the decay of current in the coil.
- When the main current in the coil increases, the induced current developed in the neighboring coil opposes the growth of current in the coil.