Lamp Brightness Quiz
January 1969 Popular Electronics

January 1969 Popular Electronics [Table of Contents] People old and young enjoy waxing nostalgic about and learning some of the history of early electronics. Popular Electronics was published from October 1954 through April 1985. All copyrights are hereby acknowledged. See all articles from Popular Electronics.

Here is another electronics quiz for you to try. Intuition from experience goes a long way here, but if all else fails you can work out the details of the rectifier circuits to determine which lamp received the most current. Keep in mind that the diode symbols are not LEDs; it is the 'A,' 'B,' and 'C' symbols inside circles that are the lamps whose brightnesses are being considered. LEDs did exist at the time this quiz was created in 1969, but the circuits would perform differently if in fact LEDs were used for double duty of rectification and illumination. Good luck. Answers are at the bottom.

Lamp Brightness Quiz

By Robert P. Balin

The brightness of a lamp operated on a.c. depends on the average current through its filaments during each cycle. A rectifier connected in series or parallel with the lamp can be used to control the current on alternate half cycles. In lamp circuits, current paths and individual lamp brightness may be considerably altered, and some interesting effects produced. To test your ability to analyze lamp and rectifier circuits, try to determine which lamp is the brightest in each of the ten circuits shown here. Assume that the diodes have zero forward resistance and infinite back resistance and that all lamps and supplies are identical.

 

Here are other Popular Electronics quizzes:

- Lamp Brightness Quiz, January 1969 - Graph Interpretation Quiz, April 1967 - Electronic Quizoo, October 1962 - Electronic Photo Album Quiz, Mar 1963 - Electronic Analogy Quiz, Nov 1961 - Electronic Alphabet Quiz, May 1963 - RC Circuit Quiz, Jun 1963 - Diode Quiz, Jul 1961 - Kool-Keeping Kwiz, Jun 1970 - Electronic Curves Quiz, Feb 1963 - Electronic Numbers Quiz, Dec 1962 - Energy Conversion Quiz, Apr 1963 - Coil Function Quiz, Jun 1962 - Electronics Analogy Quiz, Aug 1960 - Audio Quiz, April 1955 - Electronic Unit Quiz, May 1962 - Capacitor Circuit Quiz, Jun 1968 - Magnetic Phenomena Quiz, Feb 1962 - Electronics Geography Quiz, Apr 1970 - Electronic Menu Quiz,  Aug 1963 - Electronic Noise Quiz, Aug 1962 - Electronic Current Quiz, Oct 1963 - Electronic Inventors Quiz, Nov 1963 - Resistor Function Quiz, Jan 1962 - Electronic Measurement Quiz, Jan 1963 - Vacuum Tube Quiz, Feb 1961

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted September 17, 2012