Sample Interview Questions EEE

1.

What is an amplifier? A device that makes sounds louder and signal levels greater

2.

What device is used to convert direct current to alternating current? Oscillator

3.

How does a digital meters display differ from an analog meters display? Shows digital (numeric) readout instead of a needle pointing to a mark on a fixed scale

4.

Holding resistance constant, how does increasing current in a circuit affect voltage? Voltage increases

5.

How would adding a 20- resistor in parallel with a 100- resistor change the reading on an ammeter? Current would increase

6.

When measuring DC voltage across a device with a multimeter, the meter indicates 0 volts. What is one possible explanation for this reading? Switch is open

7.

What is the resistance of a lamp which draws 120 mA when connected to a 12.6-V battery? 105

8.

What is the basic difference between latches and flipflop? The basic difference between latches and flip flop is that flip flop has enable signal(ie, clock signal).Flip flop change their output depending on the clock signal. But in case of latch, there is no clock signal.

9.

What is Race-around problem? How can you rectify it? Race around condition:Toggling the output of JK flip flop more than once for a single clock input. This happens because the pulse width of the clock input is greater than the propagation delay of the flip flop. This can be overcome by using Master Slave JK flip flop.

10.

Which range of signals is used for terrestrial transmission? Normally it is used in Satellite Communication

L-Band is 1-2GHz S-Band is 2-4GHz

11.

For asynchronous transmission, is it necessary to supply some synchronizing pulses additionally or to supply or to supply start and stop bit? For asynchronous transmission data is kept b/w start & stop bits. so there must b start/ stop bit to identify the bits that are being transferred. This is known as DATAFRAMING.the start/stop bits are pre-defined.(i.e high or low).

12.

What are the methods to calculate and improve power factor? The best way to improve power factor is by adding capacitors. Low power factor is due to reactive loads (motors, pumps, etc.) that are connected to your electrical system.

13.

How do you convert kW to kWh? The unit kWh is a unit of energy, which is power multiplied by time. Multiply the power o f the equipment (measured in W or kW) by time used (measured in h) and you get the energy in kWh.

14.

What is the difference ttl and cmos? CMOS has good packing density. TTL takes up more space CMOS has better noise immmunity. TTL has a smaller noise immunity range CMOS has a large fan out. TTL can power less inputs CMOS consume less power. TTL use more power CMOS are highly static sensitive. TTL IC's tend to be less susceptible to static electricity CMOS uses FETS (Field-Effect Transistors) TTL uses BJTs (Bipolar junction Transistors CMOS can run with a range of supply voltages. TTL IC's run with a 5V supply. CMOS

uses Vdd and Vss for it's power connections TTL uses BJTs (Bipolar junction Transistors).

15.

What is the conversion for rms voltage to peak to peak voltage?

To calculate the RMS value of a sine wave, multiply the peak value by 0.707. The peak is, of course, one half the peak-to-peak value. To go the other way, reverse the order of operations. That is, if you're starting with an RMS value, divide by 0.707 and then two to get the p-p value. Another way to convert from RMS to p-p is to multiply the value by two square roots of two: RMS x 2 x SQR(2).

16.

What is a fuse and what is it used for? A fuse is a safety device that lies in series in a circuit between an electrical source and its associated load(s). When the current, or flow of electricity, exceeds its designed threshold, the fuse is calibrated to permanently open the series circuit, thereby disconnecting the load(s) from the power source. Unlike circuit breakers, which can be reset to allow current to flow again, once a fuse disconnects, it must be discarded and replaced with a new fuse.

17.

What is Linear Voltage Regulator? A linear voltage regulator is a circuit that acts like a voltage divider, but automatically changes resistance to maintain a constant output voltage regardless of change in the current drawn from its output, or variations in the input voltage.

18.

what is Linear shunt regulator

A shunt regulator made from a resistor and a zener diode is another type of linear regulator. Connect a resistor from 12V to the cathode of a 3V zener diode, and the anode to ground, then connect the load from the cathode to ground. The zener diode will draw current as needed to hold the load voltage near 3V. The output voltage will vary with load current, although not as much as a voltage divider. It will also vary with temperature. The zener diode and resistor must be sized correctly to handle the currents involved.

19.

What is an Ampere-hour? An Ampere-hour is a unit of electrical charge. A current source that delivers one amphour can deliver one amp for an hour or two amps for half an hour or sixty amps for one minute.

20.

What are the three different types of grounds in electronic circuits? RF ground IF ground Audio ground

21.

What is a diode and how does it work?

Diode is a two terminal device (di- means "two"). Simply put, it acts as a one-way valve for electrons. Conventional current can flow from the anode to the cathode, but not in the other direction.

If an intrinsic semiconductor is doped with a pentavalent or trivalent impurities you get a diode. A diode is formed when a region of N-type semiconductor touches a section of P-type.

22.

What is an eddy current? An eddy current is induced into a metal when magnetic lines of force move across it. A South pole causes circulating current in clockwise direction while a North pole causes current in counter-clockwise direction. These eddy currents thus buck the applied forces. Eddy currents are undesirable when induced into transformer cores causing power loss. Lamination of core material reduces current flow in the core. Current induced into the secondary winding of a transformer is a used to step-up or step-down voltages so that they can be of a correct size for end-use applications.

23.

What is a superconductor? Superconductivity can be defined as the decrease in the electrical resistance of a conductor and the exclusion of its interior magnetic field. Superconductivity can only occur in a small variety of conductors, and under certain conditions. Materials such as copper, tin, and aluminium can be superconductors as well as a variety of metallic alloys. To become a superconductor the conductor must be cooled to an extremely low temperature and this measure of temperature is measured in kelvins (K). The lowest temperature that any material can become is -273 degrees Celsius (also known as 0 K), but, once a material is cooled below its own special 'critical temperature', its electrical resistance becomes 0.

24.

How can we distinguish between a open loop and a close loop control system?

Basically open loop systems are those which provide an output depending on how they are expected to work irrespective of the changes that occur in the output due to some disturbances whereas closed loop control systems are those whose output is checked with the desired result and system parameters are varied in order that the output is as per the requirement.

25.

What is Kirchhoff's voltage law? It states that sum of all emfs and voltage drops is equal to zero kirchoff's current law:- at a node,incoming currents is equal to outgoing currents

26.

How does time inverse over current relay work? Over current relay function monitors the general balanced overloading and has current/time settings. This is determined by the overall protective discrimination scheme. There advantage over definite time relays is that they can have much shorter tripping times can be obtained without any risk to the protection selection process. These are classified in accordance with there characteristic curves, this indicates the speed of the operation. Based on this they are defined as being inverse, very inverse or extremely inverse. The typical settings for these relays are 0.7-2In (normal or rated generator current) in 1-10 second. Inducing a calibrated test current through the normal load current tests this relay.

27.

What is difference between kw and kva? kW is the unit of real power & kVA is the unit of Apparent power.

Apparent Power= real power + reactive power

28.

What is a relay circuit? A relay circuit is typically a smaller switch or device which drives (opens/closes) an electric switch that is capable of carrying much larger current amounts. Or a circuit which operates the coil or electronic actuator from one source and uses a separate power source to drive an isolated device.

29.

What is Miller's Theorem? Milller's Theorem is used to simplify a circuit for circuit analysis. Instead of one impedance, which connectes two non-grounded nodes, Miller's Theorem allows this impedance to be broken down into two parallel impedances. One impedance can be seen as Z/(1-A) and the other impedance can be simplified to Z/(1-(1/A)). In this case, Z was the value of the original impedance, and A is the gain of the amplifier being analyzed.

30.

What is a parallel connection? In electrical circuits series and parallel are two basic ways of wiring components. The naming comes after the method of attaching components, i.e. one after the other, or next to each other. As a demonstration, consider a very simple circuit consisting of two lightbulbs and one 9V battery. If a wire joins the battery to one bulb, to the next bulb, then back to the battery, in one continuous loop, the bulbs are said to be in series. If, on the other hand, each bulb is wired separately to the battery it is wired in a parallel circuit.

31.

What is the use of Earthing Transformer?

An earthing transformer is usually associated with three phase supply systems.

Earthing of any electrical system at the source is considered by most countries to be the safer practice with regard to personnel and equipment safety.

32.

What is an electronic scale? It will calculate weight in grams, onces and pounds depending on the settings. They come in various sizes depending on what your weighting.

33.

How much energy does a nuclear power plant produce? Nuclear power plants produce various amounts of energy relative primarily to the size of the reactor. For the generation of power, there is some minimum size that the plant will be to be able to be operated at a profit, or at least at some acceptable level of cost effectiveness. That minimum will vary, too, and from perhaps a few tens of megawatts upward.

34.

Who invented the fluorescent light bulb? Agapito Flores, a Filipino Inventor from the Philippines.

Ed Hammer, an engineer for General Electric, first invented the Compact Fluorescent Lamp, the CFL. It was deemed too expensive to produce and the idea was shelved. Later, the idea leaked out and it was produced by others.

35.

How does 3-phase electricity from power companies get turned into single-phase for home use?

Simply put, a transformer is connected to one, or two of the phases and stepped down for household use.

36.

Can you explain the construction and method of operation of an Electric Bell? The bell system is a circuit consisting of an electromagnet, a switch, set to off, which the ringer presses, a power source, a gong, a hammer (which forms part of a second switch), and electrical contact point. Once the ringer presses their switch the citcuit is completed, and the electromagnet becomes active and attracts the hammer. The hammer moves toward the magnet, striking the gong, but as it does so the circuit is broken (the hammer is part of the second switch completing the circuit, remember!), and the hammer falls back. Once it has fallen back into place, the circuit is completed and it moves forward, striking the gong and breaking the circuit again, which cycle is repeated until the ringer releases their switch.

37.

What is a megger test? If you are refering to a Megometer, it is a test of the insulation properties of such things as electric wiring, motor windings and high power antenna mounts. We use a "megger" or "meg out" electrical wiring and equipment to see if it is shorted to ground in any way. The megger uses much higher voltages to check resistance than a normal Volt-ohm meter. Ideally, you want infinity resistance but I've installed 460 volt motors with 750 megohms resistance to ground and had no problem.

38.

What is 277 volts? 277 volts is the Hot to Neutral voltage in a 277/480 volt 3-phase "Y" electrical system. This is a commercial and industrial application voltage. The purpose of using higher voltages in these applications is to supply higher power levels [watts or kVA] than at lower voltages for the same size of conductor.

39.

Why are circuit breakers and contacts coated with silver? It prevents the contact points from corrosion and oxidation. Its not silver, its a mixture of tin and lead called solder

40.

What is Mott Insulator? Mott insulators are a class of materials that are expected to conduct electricity under conventional band theories, but which in fact turn out to be insulators when measured (particularly at low temperatures).

41.

Why Zener effect and avalanche effect are the two possible break down mechanisms that helps the external current ? Zener effect : The electric field in the depletion layer reach a point that it can break the covalent bonds and generate electronhole pairs. Avalanche breakdown : The minority carriers that across the depletion layer under the influence of the electric field gain sufficient kinetic energy to be able to break covalent bond in atoms which they collide.

42.

How is input frequency and the output frequencies of a half wave rectifier and a full wave rectifier is related?

In half-wave rectification, we get pulsating output for half cycle only. Therefore output ripple frequency is same as the input frequency. But in full wave rectification we get output for both half cycle. Hence the output at ripple frequency is full-wave rectification is double the input frequency.

43.

For faster action which transistor is used and why? For faster action NPN Transistor is used .In an NPN transistor, current conduction is mainly by free electron ,whereas in PNP type transistor it is mainly holes. Since electron are more mobile than holes we prefer NPN for faster action as well as high conduction current.

44.

What is the principle of LASERS? Stimulated emission

45.

What is basic principle behind a transformer? The transformer is based on two principles: firstly, that an electric current can produce magnetic field (electromagnetism) and secondly that a changing magnetic field within a coil of wire induces a voltage across the ends of the coil (electromagnetic induction). Changing the current in the primary coil changes the magnetic flux that is developed. The changing magnetic flux induces a voltage in the secondary coil.

46.

What is a tunnel diode? A tunnel diode or Esaki diode is a type of semiconductor diode which is capable of very fast operation, well into the microwave frequency region, by using quantum mechanical effects.

47.

What is principle of operation of IMPATT diode, what is impact ionization? If a free electron with sufficient energy strikes a silicon atom, it can break covalent bond of silicon and liberate an electron from the covalent bond. If the electron gained energy by electric field and liberated other electrons from other covalent bonds then this process can cascade (avalanche) very quickly into chain reaction producing a number of electrons and large current flow in diode. This phenomenon is called impact avalanche.

48.

What is IC No. of dual 4:1 mux (multiplexer)? IC-74153

49.

What is priority encoder? priority encoder is a circuit or algorithm that compresses multiple binary inputs into a smaller number of outputs. The output of a priority encoder is the binary representation of the ordinal number starting from zero of the most significant input bit. They are often used to control interrupt requests by acting on the highest priority request.

50.

What is Nyquist plot? A Nyquist plot is used in automatic control and signal processing for assessing the stability of a system with feedback. It is represented by a graph in polar coordinates in which the gain and phase of a frequency response are plotted.

51.

What is Bode plot? Bode plot is a graph of the logarithm of the transfer function of a linear, time-invariant system versus frequency, plotted with a log-frequency axis, to show the system's frequency response.

52.

Define skin effect? Skin effect is the tendency of an alternating electric current (AC) to distribute itself within a conductor so that the current density near the surface of the conductor is greater than that at its core. That is, the electric current tends to flow at the "skin" of the conductor, at an average depth called the skin depth.

53.

What is the causes and effect of skin effect ? The skin effect causes the effective resistance of the conductor to increase with the frequency of the current because much of the conductor carries little current. Skin effect is due to eddy currents set up by the AC current. At 60 Hz in copper, skin depth is about 8.5 mm. At high frequencies skin depth is much smaller.

54.

What is cogging? When rotor bars are made to run parallel with stator , the torque rises & falls correspondingly causing more pulsations. This is termed as cogging in other qords

magnatic locking. This is reduced by making the rotor bars run at an angle to the stator ie crawling in order to make the torque uniform.

55.

Define crawling. Crawling on the other hand signifies running of motor at almost one seventh of the rated speed due to interference of seventh harmonics.

56.

Define latching and holding current in thyristor. Latching is the required minimum current on the gate that should be used to turn it on. The holding current is the minimum current it can be reduced down to before it opens the path between the cathod and anode.

57.

Define proximity effect. In a conductor carrying alternating current, if currents are flowing through one or more other nearby conductors, such as within a closely wound coil of wire, the distribution of current within the first conductor will be constrained to smaller regions. The resulting current crowding is termed the proximity effect.

58.

Effect of proximity effect. The proximity effect can significantly increase the AC resistance of adjacent conductors when compared to its resistance to a DC current. The effect increases with frequency. At higher frequencies, the AC resistance of a conductor can easily exceed ten times its DC resistance

59.

Define idmt relay. At low value of current it follows inverse current time chs and at high value of current it follows definite time chs.

60.

What is corona? A corona discharge is an electrical discharge brought on by the ionization of a fluid surrounding a conductor, which occurs when the potential gradient (the strength of the electric field) exceeds a certain value, but conditions are insufficient to cause complete electrical breakdown or arcing.

61.

What do you understand by a parity generator?

A parity generator is a circuit that, given an n-1 bit data word, generates an extra (parity) bit that is transmitted with the word. The value of this parity bit is determined by the bits of the data word. At the receiving end of the transmission, a parity checker uses this extra information to detect single-bit errors in the transmitted data word.

62.

What is CMRR?

The common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR) of a differential amplifier or other device measures the tendency of the device to reject input signals common to both input leads. The CMRR is defined as the ratio of the powers of the differential gain over the common-mode gain, measured in positive decibels:

As differential gain should exceed common-mode gain, this will be a positive number, and the higher the better.

63.

What is function of USART in 8085 microprocessor? A universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (USART) is a type of "asynchronous receiver/transmitter". Since a computer system may consist of both serial and parallel devices, so it is used to translate data between parallel and serial forms.

64.

How can off-set be eliminated in Proportional Controller? Off-set can be eliminated by incorporating Integral action along with proportional control. Thus, PI controllers provide a balance of complexity and capability that makes them by far the most widely used algorithm in process control applications.

65.

Why a three phase induction motor cannot run at synchronous speed?

The source for the torque in a three phase induction motor is the slip and slip energy is caused due to the difference in speed of the rotation of stator flux wave and the rotor, where the former rotates in synchronous speed as a result emf will be induced in the rotor and which as per lenz law will try to oppose the cause of the emf here which is relative speed .the rotor now tries to catch the stator flux wave. If it runs in synchronous speed means there is no relative speed and no slip energy and no torque and hence the motor will stop.

66.

What is the function of choke in tube? The choke along with the starter is used to give the high voltage start to the tube light which has heating filaments at both ends to ionize the gas inside. once the tube starts glowing then only 90 volts is required to keep it going, so the starter stops the current flow into the heating filaments and the choke uses it's impedance to absorb the extra voltage from 220 volts to keep the tube light voltage to 90 volts.

67.

What is the difference between neutral and earthing? Neutral - the star connected end of the transformer is get earthed to get a zero potential. This point is considered as neutral. This circuit is completed through neutral.

Earthing - All the house holding equipments are earthed in order to get protection from shocks. A house earthing can also be made neutral if the earthing has zero potential.ie Neutral & earthing are same if they are having zero potential.

68.

Why aggregate is placed all around substation ground? It is placed for human safety. Lightening can cause step potential between 2 feet of the person standing in yard. So gravel is placed so that moisture is maintained and potential of earth remains equal throughout the yard hence step potential will be zero.

69.

Why transformers not work in dc? Transformer work on principle of induction, that changing flux which occurs in AC supplied magnetic flux of primary winding not cut with secondary winding by air gap. Transformer cannot work on dc supply because dc voltage has no frequency when we give dc voltage to primary winding then will not produce e.m.f. and so low resistance cause high current flow in the primary winding and finally winding will burn

70.

Why capacitor bank always connected in delta, why not in star to a system? Capacitor is used to balance the line inductance and hence to increase the power factor. The effective capacitive reactance is 3 times more when connected in parallel than in series. So, to improve the p.f. by a fixed amount, the capacitance required in parallel is 1/3 of capacitance required in series. So, the cost is less for parallel connection.

71.

What is neutral voltage? Neutral voltage is zero, when the fault occurs it becomes equal to phase voltage. The Voltage Unbalance in the 3 phases create a floating voltage which reflects in the neutral.( Sometime it will be equal to phase voltage itself). That is why neutral in the secondary side of the transformer is always grounded and it is not connected to the main earthing grid. By making a separate earthing for neutral avoids the unnecessary earth fault tripping in the circuit.

72.

Does the transformer draw any current when secondary is open? Why ? Yes, it (primary) will draw the current from the main supply in order to magnetize the core and to supply iron and copper losses on no load. There will not be any current in the secondary since secondary is open.

73.

Why transformers are rated in KVA? Copper loss of a transformer depends on current and iron loss on voltage . Hence total losses depends on Volt- Ampere and not on the power factor. That is why the rating of transformers are in KVA and not in kW.

74.

What are the typical uses of auto transformer? (i) To give small boost to a distribution cable to correct for the voltage drop. (ii) As induction motor starters. (iii) As furnace transformers (iv) As interconnecting transformers (v) In control equipment for single phase and 3 phase elective locomotives.

75.

How does change in frequency affect the operation of a given transformer? With a change in frequency, iron loss, copper loss, regulation, efficiency and heating varies and thereby the Operation of the transformer is affected.

76.

List the advantages of stepped core arrangement in a transformer. (i) To reduce the space effectively. (ii) To obtain reduced length of mean turn of the windings. (iii) To reduce I2R loss.

77.

What is the purpose of providing taps in transformer and where these are provided? In order to attain the required voltage, taps are provided. Normally it will be provided at low voltage side.

78.

What is core loss? What is its significance in electric machines? When a magnetic material undergoes cyclic magnetization, two kinds of power losses occur on it hysteresis and eddy current loss which together are known as core loss. It is important in determining heating, temperature rise , rating and efficiency of transformers, machines and other AC run magnetic devices.

79.

Why is Commutater employed in DC machines? Conduct electricity between armature and fixed brushes Converts alternating emf into unidirectional emf and vice versa

80.

Name the different methods of electrical breaking of dc motors. (i) Dynamic braking (ii) Regenerating braking (iii) Counter current braking or plugging

81.

A bulb of 100W and another bulb of 200W, rated supply voltage 230v.when supply voltage is reduced to 100V, which bulb will give more light? And why with calculation? P = V*i For 100w bulb i = 100/230 = 0.4 A For 200w bulb i = 200/230 = 0.8 A Now voltage is reduced to 100 V, i = 100 / 100 = 1 A, i = 200 / 100 = 2 A

So, 200 W bulb will give more light.

82.

11kv has three live wires how much voltage is in its single wire (leaving the other two wires)? In 3 phase 3 wire systems, the line voltage (three wire) is 1.732 (Route 3) times of the Phase voltage (Single wire). Hence line voltage (three wire) = 11 KV. So phase voltage (single wire) = 11/1.732 KV = 6.35 KV.

83.

Which motor is suitable for traction? Why? The dc motor is suitable to traction because -the torque of dc motor is directly proportional to the I^2R. -dc motor in which produced high starting torque.

84.

What will be the direction of rotation of a Alternator in case it goes in motoring action when connected with grid? The direction of rotation is anticlockwise due to motoring action.

85.

What does DAA command do in 8085 microprocessor? DAA stands for Decimal Accumulator Adjust. The contents of the accumulator are changed from a binary value to two 4-bit binary coded decimal (BCD) digits. This is the only instruction that uses the auxiliary flag to perform the binary to BCD conversion.

86.

What is the efficiency of a Class C amplifier? 50%

87.

What is Latching current in a TRIAC? The latching current of a TRIAC is the minimum value of the load current (current flowing between electrodes A2 and A1) that keeps the device conducting even when the gate signal is removed.

88.

What is an ON-OFF controller? An on-off controller is the simplest form of controller which can have only two possible states fully on or fully closed, with no middle state. An on-off controller will switch the output only when a parameter (temperature, pressure) crosses the set point. For heating control, the output is ON when the temperature is below the set point, and OFF above set point.

89.

What is sensitivity of an instrument? It is ratio of change in input value for which the instrument can produce a change in output.

90.

What is the minimum number of NAND gates required to realize a Full-Adder? 9 NAND gates.

91.

Is 8085 capable of handling 16 bit operations? Yes , by using register pair it can. It has a provision to pair its 8 bit registers forming a 16 bit space .But it is limited to certain commands only. (LXI, LHLD)

92.

What are languages used in a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller)? The languages used in PLC areLadder diagram (LD) Sequential Function Charts (SFC) Function Block Diagram (FBD) Structured Text (ST) Instruction List (IL)

93.

What is the function of SCADA?

SCADA is an acronym that stands for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. SCADA refers to a system that collects data from various sensors at a factory, plant or in other remote locations and then sends this data to a central computer which then manages and controls the data.

94.

Define motor and generator? A motor is a device which converts electrical energy into mechanical energy while a generator is a device which converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. Both use the same principle of electrical induction that is when electricity is passed through a conductor there is a magnetic field which is created.

97.

Define modulation?

Modulation is the addition of information (or the signal) to an electronic or optical signal carrier. Modulation can be applied to direct current (mainly by turning it on and off), to alternating current, and to optical signals.

98.

Name some of the modulation methods

Amplitude modulation (AM), in which the voltage applied to the carrier is varied over time

Frequency modulation (FM), in which the frequency of the carrier waveform is varied in small but meaningful amounts

Phase modulation (PM), in which the natural flow of the alternating current waveform is delayed temporarily

99.

List some of common digital modulation techniques

Phase-shift keying (PSK) Frequency-shift keying (FSK) Amplitude-shift keying (ASK) Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) Continuous phase modulation (CPM)

100.

What is multiplexing ?

Multiplexing (also known as muxing) is a process where multiple analog message snals or digital data streams are combined into one signal over a shared medium.