November 1966 Popular Electronics
Table of Contents
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles
from
Popular Electronics,
published October 1954 - April 1985. All copyrights are hereby acknowledged.
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Robert Balin created this Electronic Factor Quiz for the November 1966 edition of Popular Electronics magazine. Your challenge is to match the drawing of a particular electronics circuit or implement with the corresponding "factor." Examples are "current amplification factor," "damping factor," "modulation factor," "duty factor," "form factor," "quality factor," etc. There are ten in all. Of course on a quiz like this you cannot get just one answer wrong - or any odd number for that matter. I managed to reverse #5 and #10 (I and B, respectively). For some reason I couldn't remember what "form factor" was, but was sure that #10 was a scale factor of sorts... wrong - a clear case of cranial rectumitis. Electronic Factor QuizBy Robert P. Balin Most electronic technicians are familiar with such common expressions as "safety factor" and "conversion factor." But how many are sure of the meaning of terms like "power factor" and "duty factor"? See if you can associate: the electronic factor expressions below (1-10) with the sketches (A-J) that suggest their application or meaning. 1) Current amplification factor 2) Damping factor 3) Modulation factor 4) Duty factor 5) Form factor 6) Quality factor. 7) Ripple factor 8) Velocity factor 9) Voltage amplification factor 10) Scale factor | 



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See answers below.
Popular Electronics published many quizzes over the years
- some really simple and others not so simple. Robert Balin created many of the quizzes.
This is a listing of all I have posted thus far.
- A Baffling Quiz
- January 1968
- Electronics IQ Quiz
- May 1967
- Plug and Jack Quiz
- December 1967
- Electronic
Switching Quiz - October 1967
- Electronic
Angle Quiz - September 1967
- International
Electronics Quiz - July 1967
- Bridge Circuit
Quiz -December 1966
- Diode Function
Quiz - August 1965
- Diagram Quiz, August
1966
- TV Trouble Quiz,
July 1966
- Electronics History Quiz,
December 1965
- Scope-Trace Quiz,
March 1965
- Electronic
Circuit Analogy Quiz, April 1973
- Test
Your Knowledge of Semiconductors, August 1972
- Ganged Switching
Quiz, April 1972
- Lamp Brightness
Quiz, January 1969
- Lissajous Pattern Quiz, September 1963
- Electronic
Quizoo, October 1962
- Electronic Photo Album Quiz, March 1963
- Electronic Alphabet Quiz, May 1963
- Quiz: Resistive?
Inductive? or Capacitive?, October 1960
- Vector-Circuit Matching Quiz, June 1970
- Inductance
Quiz, September 1961
- RC Circuit
Quiz, June 1963
- Diode Quiz,
July 1961
- Electronic Curves Quiz, February 1963
- Electronic Numbers Quiz, December 1962
- Energy Conversion Quiz, April 1963
- Coil
Function Quiz, June 1962
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- Semiconductor
Quiz - February 1967
- Unknown Frequency
Quiz - September 1965
- Electronics
Metals Quiz - October 1964
- Electronics
Measurement Quiz - August 1967
- Meter-Reading Quiz,
June 1966
- Electronic
Geometry Quiz, January 1965
- Electronic
Factor Quiz, November 1966
- Electronics
Math Quiz, November 1965
- Series Circuit Quiz,
May 1966
- Electrochemistry
Quiz, March 1966
- Electronic Analogy
Quiz, November 1961
- Electronic
Coupling Quiz, August 1973
- Electronics Analogy Quiz, August 1960
- Audio Quiz,
April 1955
- Electronic
Unit Quiz, May 1962
-
Capacitor Circuit Quiz, June 1968
- Quiz on AC Circuit Theory, December 1970
- Magnetic Phenomena Quiz, February 1962
- Electronics Geography Quiz, April 1970
-
Electronic Menu Quiz, August 1963
- Electronic Noise Quiz, August 1962
- Electronic Current Quiz, October 1963
- Electronic Inventors Quiz, November 1963
- Resistor
Function Quiz, January 1962
- Electronic Measurement Quiz, January 1963
- Vacuum
Tube Quiz, February 1961
- Kool-Keeping Kwiz, June
1970
- Find the
Brightest Bulb Quiz, April 1960
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Factor Quiz Answers 1 - C) The Current Amplification Factor, or d.c. beta, of a transistor common emitter circuit is the ratio of the collector current (Ic) to base current (Ib). Thus, β = Ic/Ib. 2 - G) The Damping Factor of an amplifier is the ratio of its output voltage under normal load conditions to the measured change in the output voltage when the load is removed. 3 - J) The Modulation Factor of an AM waveform is the ratio of the maximum excursion of the modulation envelope to the level of the un-modulated carrier. (Percent modulation is obtained by multiplying the modulation factor by 100.) 4 - E) The Duty Factor of a pulse is the ratio of its "on" time to the total duration of its "on-off" cycle. 5 - I) The Form Factor of a waveform is the ratio of its effective or r.m.s. value to its average value. 6 - D) The Quality Factor, or simply Q, of a series-resonant circuit is the ratio of either its inductive or capacitive reactance (XL or XC) at resonance to its d.c. resistance. 7 - A) The Ripple Factor of a filtered power supply is the ratio of the r.m.s. value of the a.c. components to the average value of its d.c. output voltage. 8 - H) The Velocity Factor of a transmission line is the ratio of the velocity of the r.f. energy along the line to the velocity of the same energy traveling in free space. 9 - F) The Voltage Amplification Factor or mu (μ) of a vacuum-tube amplifier is the ratio of the amplitude of the output signal appearing at its plate to the amplitude of the input signal applied to its grid. 10 - B) The Scale Factor of a high-voltage probe is the constant by which the meter reading must be multiplied to obtain the actual value of the voltage measured with the probe. Posted May 18, 2018 |