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Core Technologies > Basic Electronics > Flashcards

Basic Electronics Flashcards

1
Q

How many paths for current flow are there in a Series Circuit?

A

1 path

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2
Q

Ohm’s Law

A

The mathematical relationship between voltage, current, and resistance

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3
Q

Short circuit

A

An incorrect path; 2 points connected together that shouldn’t be, usually resulting in excessive current flow

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4
Q

Voltage

A

A force that pushes electrons to move; electrical pressure that pushes electrons through wire; difference in charge between two points

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5
Q

What is the letter and measurement of Voltage?

A

E; volts

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6
Q

How to find the total sum of Resistance in a Parallel Circuit if the resistance is the SAME in each branch?

A

R(t)=R/# of branches

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7
Q

In a Parallel Circuit, is the total resistance more or less than the lowest branch’s resistance?

A

Less

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8
Q

What determines the South/North polarity of the magnetic field?

A

Direction of the flow of voltage current

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9
Q

Is Conventional Current Flow from + to - , or - to +?

A

+ to -

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10
Q

Is Electron Flow from + to - , or - to +?

A
  • to +
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11
Q

What is the letter and measurement of Current?

A

I; amps (amperes)

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12
Q

What is Current directly proportional to ?

A

Voltage (E)

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13
Q

What is Current INVERSELY proportional to?

A

Resistance (R)

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14
Q

What is the letter/symbol and measurement of Resistance?

A

R; ohms Ω

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15
Q

How is electricity used in audio?

A

Sound is converted into a form of electricity that can then be amplified, recorded, processed and manipulated by other electrical components and circuits, then this electricity can be sent back out to create sound waves

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16
Q

What is electricity?

A

Flow of electrons through an electrical conductor

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17
Q

How do electrons flow?

A

They jump from atom to atom

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18
Q

What are examples of good conductors?

A

Most metals; e.g. copper, gold

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19
Q

What does electricity flow create?

A

Energy

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20
Q

Transducer

A

Device that converts energy from one form to another

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21
Q

Examples of a transducer

A

Microphone, guitar pick-up, our ears, speakers

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22
Q

Insulators

A

They stop/block the flow of electricity; opposite of conductor

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23
Q

Electrical conductor

A

Allows electrons to flow easily

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24
Q

How do microphones transduce sound?

A

Microphones generate a tiny voltage (millivolts) to make electrons move through a wire

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25
Q

Pre-amp amplifies mini volt signal up to _____

A

Line level

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26
Q

How many volts is line level?

A

1.23

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27
Q

What’s the meaning of + and ~ in voltage?

A

+ indicates DC, and ~ indicates AC

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28
Q

What can multimeters measuer?

A

Voltage, Current, Resistance

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29
Q

What is Resistance an opposition of?

A

AC & DC current flow

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30
Q

What is Impedance in opposition of?

A

Impedance opposes AC current

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31
Q

Is Resistance or Impedance considered ‘frequency dependent opposition?’

A

Impedance

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32
Q

What is the letter and measurement of Impedance?

A

Z; and Ohms Ω, similar to R

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33
Q

Power

A

The amount of energy being used or generated in an electrical circuit of Power

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34
Q

What is the letter and measurement of Power?

A

P; watts

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35
Q

Current

A

The intensity of electron flow; literally, the number of electrons flowing through a wire in a given period of time

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36
Q

Resistance

A

The opposition of electrical current flow

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37
Q

If voltage goes up, ______ goes up

A

Current

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38
Q

If voltage goes down, ______ goes down

A

Current

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39
Q

What is the basic type of electrical circuit?

A

Series circuit

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40
Q

Series circuit

A

An electrical circuit that has just one loop or path for electricity to flow, and all electrons take the same path

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41
Q

Is current the same throughout a series circuit?

A

Yes

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42
Q

What’s a simple example of a series circuit?

A

Christmas lights

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43
Q

Parallel circuit

A

An electrical circuit that has more than one path or loop/branches for electrons to take

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44
Q

Voltage in Parallel Circuits

A

All branches or loops of a parallel circuit have the exactly same voltage

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45
Q

What is the equation to find total resistance in a parallel circuit?

A

Rt= Total Volts (E) / Total Amps (I)

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46
Q

What’s a simple example to parallel circuit?

A

AC power strip

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47
Q

Circuit breaker

A

Circuit breakers trip to help stop overflowing electricity from burning the house down lol

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48
Q

What is the equation to find total resistance if resistance is the same in all branches?

A

Rt=R / # of branches in the circuit

49
Q

Transformers

A

Electrical components that uses principals of electromagnetic induction to take an existing AC voltage and current, and transform or convert it to another AC voltage with an equivalent amount of power

50
Q

What is the core of the transformer typically made out of?

A

Iron

51
Q

Primary winding

A

First coil of wire of the transformer, and is the input side

52
Q

Secondary winding

A

Second wire of the transformer, and is the output side

53
Q

What are the first 3 questions you should ask when troubleshooting?

A
  1. Is it plugged in?
  2. Is it turned on?
  3. Is it turned up?
54
Q

Direct Current

A

Electrical current with fixed polarity, therefore all electrons are flowing in the same direction

55
Q

Alternating Current

A

Electrical current with changing polarity, therefore electrons change direction flow

56
Q

What current is blocked by Transformers?

A

DC

57
Q

Why is DC blocked by Transformers?

A

Transformers work by using electromagnetic induction due to polarity changing in AC current to create a magnetic field that moves and expands to go from primary winding to affect the secondary winding, and DC magnetic fields are unmoving because the current is fixed polarity and direction of flow is constant = no magnetic induction.

58
Q

Why go through a Transformer?

A

This allows us to change the AC voltage and current levels that are being outputted by the secondary winding

59
Q

Turns Ratio

A

How much AC voltage and current flows in the secondary winding versus how much flows in the primary winding is determined by how many times you wrap the wire around the iron coil

60
Q

If you wrap primary winding 100 times, and secondary winding 100 times, what is the turns ratio?

A

1:1

61
Q

What does 1:1 ratio mean in a transformer?

A

For every one volt applied to primary winding, you will generate one volt in the secondary winding

62
Q

Isolation transformer

A

AC in = AC out; used to provide isolation between two components of a circuit (blocking DC currents), and still pass an AC signal from one side of the circuit to another; also used to isolate ground connections and eliminate “ground loop”

63
Q

Step Up Transformer

A

Increasing the voltage from Primary winding to Secondary winding
AC in < AC out

64
Q

Explain an example of what’s happening with a Step Up Transformer (turn ratio)

A

A transformer with 100 turns of Primary windings and 400 turns of Secondary windings will create a 1:4 ratio, so for every one volt applied to the input, the output will be 4 volts

65
Q

Step Down Transformer

A

Decreasing the voltage from the Primary winding to Secondary winding
AC in > AC out

66
Q

Explain an example of what’s happening with a Step Down Transformer (turn ratio)

A

A transformer with 100 turns of Primary windings and 10 turns of Secondary windings will create a 10:1 ratio, so for every one volt applied to the input, the output will be 1/10 volts

67
Q

Standard AC Distribution in the US

A

120vAC, 60Hz, Single Phase

68
Q

What current’s symbol is ~ ?

A

AC

69
Q

What current’s symbol is ____

——- ?

A

DC

70
Q

Impedance Transformer

A

A high impedance connection in the primary can be made to look like a low impedance connection to whatever is connected to the secondary, and vice versa (low impedance can look like high)
Unbalanced in - Balanced out
(DI Box)

71
Q

Unbalanced

A

Primary winding has 2 wires, one wire is the input (with current), and the other wire is grounded

72
Q

If it is Unbalanced, does it have high or low impedance?

A

High

73
Q

Balanced

A

Secondary winding has two coils of wire joined in the middle - one wire with matching polarity to the primary winding (pin 2), and the other with an opposite polarity (pin 3)

74
Q

If it is Balanced, does it have high or low impedance?

A

Low

75
Q

Does Pin 1 on Impedance transformer have current or ground? If current, is it in polarity or opposite?

A

Pin 1 is ground

76
Q

Does Pin 2 on Impedance transformer have current or ground? If current, is it in polarity or opposite?

A

Pin 2 has current and is in polarity with Primary

77
Q

Does Pin 3 on Impedance transformer have current or ground? If current, is it in polarity or opposite?

A

Pin 3 has current and is in opposite polarity with Primary

78
Q

High impedance connections are considered balanced or unbalanced?

A

Unbalanced

79
Q

Low impedance connections are considered balanced or unbalanced?

A

Balanced

80
Q

Electric instruments typically have high input and output impedances - what type of cables do they use?

A

Unbalanced 1/4” TS, Tip/Sleeve cables

81
Q

Shield wire

A

Wrapped/braided around the center copper wire of the 1/4” TS & TRS cable

82
Q

Purpose of a shield wire

A

It is typically hooked to the circuit ground through the device the cable is plugged into - therefore, it becomes and electrical conductor hooked to ground surrounding the signal carrying wire, and “shielding” it from electromagnetic energy

83
Q

If you have to send your signal a longer distance, or want extremely low noise transfer, will you use an unbalanced or balanced line signal? Why?

A

Balanced, because they have low impedance signals

84
Q

Balanced line signal cables have how many conductors?

A

3

85
Q

Is the shield wire part of the signal circuit in a balanced line signal?

A

No

86
Q

Is the shield wire part of the signal circuit in an unbalanced line signal?

A

Yes

87
Q

In a balanced line cable (XLR) what is Pin 1 connected to?

A

Shield wire

88
Q

In a balanced line cable (XLR) what is Pin 2?

A

Conductor carrying the phase signal - Hot (red)

89
Q

In a balanced line cable (XLR) what is Pin 3?

A

Conductor carrying the identical but opposite polarity signal to Pin 2 - Cold (white)

90
Q

What can we use to change an unbalanced signal to a balanced one?

A

A transformer

91
Q

Do condenser mics have transformers built into them?

A

No, because condenser mics require phantom power (DC), which transformers block

92
Q

What do condenser mics use to create a balanced signal?

A

ICA - impedance conversion amplifier

93
Q

What is considered electronically balanced?

A

A condenser mic

94
Q

What type of cable carries balanced line signals?

A

1/4” TRS Tip Ring Sleeve and TT Tiny Telephone connectors

95
Q

In a 1/4” TRS, which parts are hot/red, cold, ground?

A

Tip: hot/red, Ring: cold, Sleeve: ground

96
Q

Common Mode Rejection

A

Noise cancellation effect we get by using balanced line signals, cables & connections

97
Q

Differential Amp

A

Electronically balanced input preamplifier that inverts one of the two entering signals

98
Q

Mic cartridge generates unbalanced signal, which is converted by the built in impedance transformer to what?

A

A balanced line signal

99
Q

Which two pins out of 1, 2, and 3 help transform an unbalanced signal to a balanced signal?

A

Pins 2 and 3

100
Q

After being transformed to a balanced line signal, the signal travels down pins 2 & 3 on the XLR to the differential amp - now what happens to the signal?

A

Balanced line signal has two signals - one that is in opposite polarity to the other, when it hits the diff amp, it flips the polarity of pin 3 signal, causing it to be matching polarity with pin 2 = larger amplified signal

101
Q

How does Common Mode Rejection work?

A

If noise gets past the shield wire, the noise inducing magnetic fields hit both signal carrying wires at basically the same time, so the noise voltages will have the same polarity on both wires. Because it’s the same, the diff amp will invert one of the signals, causing them to be in exact opposite polarity, therefore CANCELLING NOISE

102
Q

Common Mode Rejection Ratio

A

A rating of how much noise will be cancelled

103
Q

What does CMRR rated at -75dB mean?

A

The noise is being attenuated by 75dB compared to the actual signal you want to amplify

104
Q

Impedance Matching

A

To maximise signal transferring efficiency, we must match output impedance of device (mic, instrument, etc.) to the input impedance of the next device (amplifier, speaker, etc.)
e.g. high impedance output don’t do good with low impedance input

105
Q

Power Supplies

A

Converts AC to DC

106
Q

On a standard US 120vAC outlet, there are 3 prongs. Which is which?

A

Left larger terminal: Neutral/common (white wire)
Right smaller terminal: Hot 120vAC (black wire)
Bottom round terminal: Earth ground (green/copper wire)

107
Q

What is the voltage between Neutral/common wire and Hot 120vAC wire?

A

120vAC

108
Q

What is the voltage between Neutral wire and Earth ground wire?

A

0vAC

109
Q

What is the voltage between Earth ground wire and Hot 120vAC wire?

A

120vAC

110
Q

List the 4 main reasons for Impedance matching

A
  1. Max the transfer of power
  2. Increase the headroom
  3. Increase signal:noise
  4. Increase efficiency
111
Q

Series Circuit cheat sheet rules

A 
I = stays the same 
R = add for total
E = add for total
P = add for total
112
Q

Parallel Circuit cheat sheet rules

A 
I = add for total
R = total E / total I
E = stays the same
P = add for total
113
Q

Electromagnetic Induction

A

A principle that a coil of wire moving through a magnetic field, or vice versa, will induce/generate an AC current

114
Q

Does unbalanced or balanced have 1 signal wire?

A

Unbalanced

115
Q

1/4” TS (tip, sleeve) and examples

A

Cable used for unbalanced line signals

Instrument cables, shorter cable runs

116
Q

1/4” TRS (tip, ring, sleeve) and examples

A

Cable used for balanced line signals

XLR (mic cable), longer cable runs

117
Q

What is a big benefit of balanced line signals?

A

CMRR - Common mode rejection ratio

118
Q

Does a preamp or a power amp have a higher voltage gain?

A

Preamp

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