AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS 2009/2010 SESSION
CHEN 723 – BASIC ELECTRONICS

Reg. No………………………………………………………………………….

INSTRUCTIONS: Duration is one hour and thirty minutes (1hr:30 min); Attempt all the
questions in sections A and B. attempt only three (3) questions in section C. Write your
registration number on this question paper and sign it as you are to answer
sections A and B on this question paper. A different answer booklet may be
provided for you to answer section C.

SECTION A: FILLING THE BLANKS {25 marks}

1. The electrons in the outmost orbit of an atom are called ……………………electrons.

2. Semiconductors have ……………bonds.

3. Elements added to semiconductor materials to produce more current are called

………………………...

4. The most common semiconductor is also called……………………………………………

5. When a p-n junction is forward-biased for majority carriers, it is ……………………-biased

for ……………………. Carriers.

6. Zener diodes are widely used as ………………………………….regulators.

7. An ideal diode conducts in forward direction with …………………………resistance.

8. A reverse-biased ideal diode looks like an ………………………resistance.

9. Structurally, a bipolar junction transistor consists of emitter, base,

and……………………….

10.The leakage currents in a transistor are due to ……………………….carriers.

SECTION B: MULTIPLE CHOICE OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS {30 marks}

1. Silicon has Z= 14, its outmost orbit is
(a) Partially filled

(b) Half filled

(c) Completely empty

(d) Fully occupied

2. In n-type of semiconductor, there are

(a) No minority carriers

(b) Immobile negative ions

(c) Immobile positive ions

(d) Holes as majority carriers

3. Doping materials are called impurities because they

 (a) Decrease the number of charge carriers

(b) Change the chemical properties of semiconductors

(c) Make semiconductors less 100 percent pure

(d) Alter crystal structure of the pure semiconductors

4. Electronic distribution of an Si atom is

(a) 2, 10, 2

(b) 2, 8, 4

(c) 2, 7, 5

(d) 2, 4, 8

5. Conduction electrons have more mobility than holes because they

(a) Are lighter

(b) Experience collision less frequently

(c) Have negative charge

(d) Need less energy to move them

6. Zener voltage is also known as

(a) Forward break over voltage

(b) Peak forward voltage

(c) Avalanche voltage

(d) Reverse bias

7. Leakage current of a junction diode

(a) Decrease with temperature

(b) Is due to majority carriers

(c) Depends on the method of its fabrication

(d) Is in the range of mA and Μa

8. In the forward region of its characteristic, a diode appears as

(a) An OFF switch

(b) A high resistance

(c) A capacitor

(d) An ON switch
 9. The output of a rectifier is

(a) 60 Hz a.c.

(b) Smooth d.c.

(c) Pulsating d.c.

(d) 120 Hz a.c.

10.An advantage of full-wave rectifier is

(a) It uses the whole transformer secondary for entire a.c. input cycle.

(b) It cost less than other rectifiers

(c) It cut half of the a.c. wave cycle

(d) It never needs a regulator

SECTION C: (ATTEMPT ANY THREE QUESTIONS)

Q1. A silicon diode dissipates 6 W for a forward d.c. current of 3.5 A, calculate the forward
voltage
across the diode and its bulk resistance. {15 marks}

Q2. Mobility of electrons and holes in a sample germanium at room temperature are
0.36m2/V-s and
0.17m2/V-s respectively. If the electron and hole densities are each equal to 2.5 x 1019
3
m.
Determine germanium resistivity. { e = 1.6 x 10-19 C} {15 marks}

Q3. The four diodes used in a bridge rectifier circuit have forward resistances, which may
be
considered negligible, and infinite reverse resistances. The alternating supply voltage
is
220 V rms and the resistive load is 60 Ohms. Calculate
(a) The mean load current
(b) The rectifier efficiency. {15 marks}

Q4. Using an ideal Zener diode approximations, find the minimum and maximum currents
through the diode in
fig. Q4.

{15 marks}

Best of luck