Questions

1) What are Active and Passive elements?

The active elements generate energy. Batteries, generators, operational amplifiers etc
are active elements.
The
passive
elements
cannot
generate
energy,
they
drop
energy.Resistors,capacitors,inductor etc are passive elements because they takes
energy from circuit.

2)What is the frequency range of various mobile operators in India?

BSNL------ 900-1600MHz.
3)What are the advantages and Disadvantages of Centre tap transformers?
ADVANTAGES

The

need

for

center-tapped

transformer

is

eliminated,

The output is twice that of the center tapped circuit for the same secondary voltage, and,
The peak inverse voltage is one half of the center-tap circuit.
DISADVANTAGES

It

requires

four

diodes

instead

of

two,

in

full

wave

circuit,

and,

There are always two diodes in series are conducting. Therefore, total voltage drop in the
internal resistance of the diodes and losses are increased.
4)What is the importance of PIV?
Typically this is the maximum reverse polarity voltage that can be applied to a diode
before it starts to break down and conduct current. Diodes always have a reverse leakage
current, although usually very small for rectifier diodes (100nA - 500uA would be typical), so
the reverse voltage specification is the voltage at which the diode conducts a defined amount
of current in the reverse direction. Exceeding this value in reverse bias will cause the diode to
avalanche and break over conducting in the reverse direction.

5)What the types of Capacitors?

There are many different types of capacitor that can be used - most of the major types are
outlined below:

Ceramic capacitor: The ceramic capacitor is a type of capacitor that is used in many
applications from audio to RF. Values range from a few Picofarads to around 0.1
microfarads. Ceramic capacitor types are by far the most commonly used type of
capacitor being cheap and reliable and their loss factor is particularly low although this
is dependent on the exact dielectric in use. In view of their constructional properties,
these capacitors are widely used both in leaded and surface mount formats.

Electrolytic capacitor: Electrolytic capacitors are a type of capacitor that is

polarised. They are able to offer high capacitance values - typically above 1F, and are
most widely used for low frequency applications - power supplies, decoupling and
audio coupling applications as they have a frequency limit if around 100 kHz.

Tantalum capacitor: Like electrolytic capacitors, tantalum capacitors are also

polarised and offer a very high capacitance level for their volume. However this type of
capacitor is very intolerant of being reverse biased, often exploding when placed under
stress. This type of capacitor must also not be subject to high ripple currents or voltages
above their working voltage. They are available in both leaded and surface mount
formats.

Silver Mica Capacitor: Silver mica capacitors are not as widely used these days, but
they still offer very high levels of stability, low loss and accuracy where space is not an
issue. They are primarily used for RF applications and and they are limited to maximum
values of 1000 pF or so.

Polystyrene Film Capacitor: Polystyrene capacitors are a relatively cheap form of

capacitor but offer a close tolerance capacitor where needed. They are tubular in shape
resulting from the fact that the plate / dielectric sandwich is rolled together, but this adds
inductance limiting their frequency response to a few hundred kHz. They are generally
only available as leaded electronics components.

Polyester Film Capacitor: Polyester film capacitors are used where cost is a
consideration as they do not offer a high tolerance. Many polyester film capacitors have
a tolerance of 5% or 10%, which is adequate for many applications. They are generally
only available as leaded electronics components.

Metallised Polyester Film Capacitor: This type of capacitor is a essentially a form

of polyester film capacitor where the polyester films themselves are metallised. The
advantage of using this process is that because their electrodes are thin, the overall
capacitor can be contained within a relatively small package. The metallised polyester
film capacitors are generally only available as leaded electronics components.

Polycarbonate capacitor:
The polycarbonate capacitors has been used in
applications where reliability and performance are critical. The polycarbonate film is
very stable and enables high tolerance capacitors to be made which will hold their
capacitance value over time. In addition they have a low dissipation factor, and they
remain stable over a wide temperature range, many being specified from -55C to
+125C. However the manufacture of polycarbonate dielectric has ceased and their
production is now very limited.

Polypropylene Capacitor: The polypropylene capacitor is sometimes used when a

higher tolerance type of capacitor is necessary than polyester capacitors offer. As the
name implies, this capacitor uses a polypropylene film for the dielectric. One of the
advantages of the capacitor is that there is very little change of capacitance with time
and voltage applied. This type of capacitor is also used for low frequencies, with 100
kHz or so being the upper limit. They are generally only available as leaded electronics
components.

Glass capacitors: As the name implies, this capacitor type uses glass as the
dielectric. Although expensive, these capacitors offer very high levels or performance in
terms of extremely low loss, high RF current capability, no piezo-electric noise and
other features making them ideal for many performance RF applications.

Supercap: Also known as a supercapacitor or ultracapacitor, as the name implies

these capacitors have very large values of capacitance, of up to several thousand
Farads. They find uses for providing a memory hold-up supply and also within
automotive applications.

6)What is the difference between a sensor and a transducer?

Sensor - As the term suggests, it is a body which reacts to a physical, chemical or biological
condition.
It
senses.
It
can
be
considered
as
a
detector.
Transducer - The conversion of energy from one form to another is known as Transduction.
A transducer serves for this purpose.