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dB Control dB-9006 Magnum Opus Synthesizer - RF Cafe

Can You Name These Strange Electronic Effects?
August 1962 Radio-Electronics

August 1962 Radio-Electronics

August 1962 Radio-Electronics Cover - RF Cafe[Table of Contents]

Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles from Radio-Electronics, published 1930-1988. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.

Robert P. Balin created many great quizzes for Popular Electronics magazine in the 1960s and 1970s (see list below). This is only the second quiz by Mr. Balin I have seen in Radio-Electronics magazine (see Sawtooth Sticklers). "Can You Name These Strange Electronic Effects?" is one of the more difficult quizzes, because it requires you to know the names of the effects - no list of potential answers to match with are given. Being an old guy and having posted articles referencing many of these effects, I was able to eke out a score of 80%. For item #4, I took a WAG at the answer and got it right, probably because of so many articles about Lee de Forest's invention of the Audio vacuum tube amplifier. Don't let that clue fool you though; the effect was not discovered by or named after him, although the Audion exploits it. Think of another famous American inventor that will make a light bulb go on in your head (as the saying goes). I colorized the drawings to make them more interesting for 21st century readers. Here is a clue for you: The effect names begin with, in alphabetical particular order: E H M M P P S T V Z. You're welcome.

Can You Name These Strange Electronic Effects?

Score yourself:

10 correct answers ... Excellent

9 correct answers ... Superior

8 correct answers ... Good

7 correct answers ... Average

The answers are below.

By Robert P. Balin (Instructor in electronics, Arizona State University)

You know how most of these circuits work - or maybe you don't! But ---

Can you name these strange electronic effects?

 

Magnetostrictive Effect - RF Cafe1. When a nickel rod is magnetized, it becomes shorter in length. Ultrasonic transducers for sonar employ this principle based upon the .......... effect.

 

Seebeck Effect - RF Cafe2. When the junction of an iron wire and a constantan wire is heated, a voltage appears between the free ends. Thermocouples use this principle originally called the .......... effect.

 

Piezoelectric Effect - RF Cafe3. When a Rochelle salt crystal is twisted, voltage is generated between its faces. Phonograph cartridges use this ..................... effect.

 

Edison Effect - RF Cafe4. When the plate in this tube is made positive with respect to the filament, a current flows through the vacuum which will not flow if the voltage is reversed, This principle upon which the diode vacuum tube is based employs the ................. effect.

 

Peltier Effect - RF Cafe5. If a current is sent through the junction of a p-type and an n-type semiconductor such as bismuth telluride, the temperature of the junction changes. It becomes warmer or cooler depending upon current direction. This principle, now applied to the manufacture of cooling modules (such as Westinghouse WX816) for power transistors, is known as .......... effect.

 

Volta Effect - RF Cafe6. If two dissimilar metals are placed in contact with each other a voltage appears between the free ends. This phenomenon is known as the ................ effect.

 

Hall Effect - RF Cafe7. When a current is sent through a crystal of indium arsenide held in a magnetic field, a voltage is developed between the edges of the crystal which lie parallel to the current direction. This output voltage is proportional to the product of the field H and current I. Magnetic fields can be measured with a probe using this ................ effect.

 

Miller Effect - RF Cafe8. When input signal to this tube is increased, input capacitance also increases with the result that frequency response of this stage is reduced. An unbypassed resistor in the cathode circuit helps to minimize the changes in frequency response caused by the .......... effect.

 

Thompson Effect - RF Cafe9. If a bar of metal is heated at one end, a voltage appears between the hot and cold ends. Important in the application of thermocouples, it is known as the ....................... effect.

 

Zener Effect - RF Cafe10. As the reverse voltage -E applied to this silicon crystal diode is increased, a point X is reached at which the current increases greatly in value, with the result that it is difficult to increase the voltage Eo across the diode. Semiconductor voltage regulators employ the ............ effect.

Quizzes from vintage electronics magazines such as Popular Electronics, Electronics-World, QST, Radio-Electronics, and Radio News were published over the years - some really simple and others not so simple. Robert P. Balin created most of the quizzes for Popular Electronics. This is a listing of all I have posted thus far.

RF Cafe Quizzes

Vintage Electronics Magazine Quizzes

Vintage Electronics Magazine Quizzes

Vintage Electronics Magazine Quizzes

 

August Solutions

Strange Electronic Effects

1. Magnetostrictive effect

2. Seebeck effect

3. Piezoelectric effect

4. Edison effect

5. Peltier effect

6. Volta effect or contact potential

7. Hall effect

8. Miller effect

9. Thomson effect

10. Zener effect

 

 

Posted September 16, 2024
dB Control dB-9006 Magnum Opus Synthesizer - RF Cafe

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   BSEE - KB3UON - AMA92498

RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling 2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed formulas and reference material while performing my work as an RF system and circuit design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet) was largely an unknown entity at the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity. Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps while tying up your telephone line, and a lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail" when a new message arrived...

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