- What name do you use to talk about the rate of electrons flowing past a point in a circuit in one second? Ampere or Amps. The physics books tell us that 1.2 trillion electrons flowing past that circuit point in one second is equal to one Amp.
- What is the calculation used to determine how much power is being consumed in a DC circuit?
Volts * Amps = Watts. The watt is the unit of power. This question comes directly from Ohm’s law. This calculation only applies to DC circuits. All computers both home and laptop actually run on DC power. A power supply contained inside your computer converts the household AC to direct current. Direct current doesn’t fluctuate and it is much easier to lower voltage and current to power solid state components. - What is the difference in electrical power supplied to houses in the USA compared to the electrical power in Europe? Power is supplied at 110 – 120 volts @ 60 Hz in the US and 220-240 volts @ 50 Hz in Europe.
- What is one main difference between AC and DC? AC is alternating current; it moves in one direction and then reverses its direction, over and over again. Electric technicians refer to this condition as the AC cycle. The alternating current stream is not steady; it’s always fluctuating a little more or a little less as current changes direction. The average AC current is known as RMS or root mien square voltage. DC is current flowing in one direction. Therefore DC is a steady stream of current. Our sensitive electronics need a steady stream of current. Solid state components such as chips and integrated circuits will not tolerate any form of fluctuating current. Solid state components require low amounts of steady current and voltage. 5 What does it mean when a power supply uses multiple rails? It means it has separate circuitry and each is its own power source.
- Getting and using a 900 Watt power supply means that when you are using the computer, you will be using 900 Watts, True or False? False! You will only be using the power you need to run the computer. If your PSU can supply more power, it just simply means it’s available up to 900 watts if your computer needs it, but it’s not using all of that available wattage.
- It’s ok to plug a 110 volt power supply into an outlet that provides 220 volts, True or False? False, if that power supply receives more current or voltage than its expecting then it will smoke/burn, break!
Hopefully, you will have a fuse, ground fault interrupter or circuit breaker in the line to protect the circuit against such stupidity. If not, I’ll see you in class.
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