Circuit Lab B/C

[imaditi]

Good find; but it doesn't really grasp the event as a whole. You'd be better off for next year by reading an AP Physics 2 textbook, in the circuits section; or even reading the section on circuits in a college physics textbook.

if you want basic videos khan academy and organic chemistry tutor are good (especially for methods like node voltage)

Yes, they generally give you the right idea as a whole, but to further grasp any and all topics that may show up on more advanced tests, you're better of studying a textbook then studying many articles on a topic. Video's as you said will help you visually grasp a topic as well.

Definitely, I would suggest after grasping a topic once learning it from a textbook or video attempt to solve a question from a past test that would help to really solidify the knowledge.

[jaggie34]

if you want basic videos khan academy and organic chemistry tutor are good (especially for methods like node voltage)

Yes, they generally give you the right idea as a whole, but to further grasp any and all topics that may show up on more advanced tests, you're better of studying a textbook then studying many articles on a topic. Video's as you said will help you visually grasp a topic as well.

Definitely, I would suggest after grasping a topic once learning it from a textbook or video attempt to solve a question from a past test that would help to really solidify the knowledge.

If you're going to use videos to start learning, I'd actually suggest crash course physics, imo they present information in a way that makes it much easier to understand than khan academy

[ivanioc]

I had a question regarding electron volts. What are the corresponding formulas for finding eV per photon, work function, and velocity of the electrons? How many questions regarding this should I expect on the test?

[ivanioc]

I had a question regarding electron volts. What are the corresponding formulas for finding eV per photon, work function, and velocity of the electrons? How many questions regarding this should I expect on the test?

An electron-volt is a unit of energy; it's just an electron charge (e) multiplied by one volt (V), which gives the unit a nice memorable abbreviation of eV. In SI Units, the electron charge is 1.60 × 10⁻¹⁹ coulombs, so 1 eV = (1.60 × 10⁻¹⁹ C)(1 V) = 1.60 × 10⁻¹⁹ C·V, which is also the same in joules because C·V = J.

You can find the energy of a single photon by E = hf, where f is the photon's frequency and h is Planck's constant. The work function is the amount of energy needed for a photon to make current start to flow in a material—it differs from material to material, but if you're given a graph or some data, you'd look at what amount of energy per photon would cause current to go from zero to a nonzero number.

An electron's kinetic energy is , so once you know it's kinetic energy, you know it's velocity. It's a lot easier said than done because most of the time, you don't really know the kinetic energy of any individual electron. However, if your test asks about a photoelectric experiment, you can calculate the maximum speed of electrons through K = −ΔU = eV_stop, where e is the electron charge again. (Sorry if this is confusing; if so, reading about the photoelectric effect may give you a bit more background on where these equations come from.)

Because different test writers are in charge at different tournaments, it's entirely possible that that these topics come up at one tournament, but not another. I don't think I saw electron energy on tests very often back when I was in high school, but it always helps to learn more. Good luck! :)

[ivanioc]

What exactly are digital logic and digital operations and how many questions should I expect on the test? Thanks

[lindsmaurer]

What exactly are digital logic and digital operations and how many questions should I expect on the test? Thanks

Digital logic/operations is performing different operations using digital logic gates:
https://avyscomputerscienceblog.files.w ... .png?w=676
(image was too big to attach but it's a good image)

Usually questions consist of asking you to create a truth table for a circuit created using those gates, identifying a gate that was created from other gates, creating or identifying a representation of a gate (which can be a lab or a test question), or questions on the gates themselves. There will also often be questions on boolean algebra in the same section as digital logic questions. Those are usually fairly simple, but I would suggest knowing the basics of boolean algebra, along with what Sum-of-Product form and Product-of-Sum forms are and how to convert.

As for how many questions to expect, usually easier tests won't have any, as they will stick to the core topics of the event, but harder tests will have 3-4 questions, and you may come across an occasional lab, so it's definitely worth knowing.

[jaggie34]

What exactly are digital logic and digital operations and how many questions should I expect on the test? Thanks

It's also probably a good idea to mess around with logic gate diagrams and try putting different gates together to get comfortable with them, tests will occasionally ask you to represent a logic formula with gates or vice versa, or even to model a circuit with logic gates

[Nydauron]

What exactly are digital logic and digital operations and how many questions should I expect on the test? Thanks

It's also probably a good idea to mess around with logic gate diagrams and try putting different gates together to get comfortable with them, tests will occasionally ask you to represent a logic formula with gates or vice versa, or even to model a circuit with logic gates

This might be too advanced and complicated just to address this, but I thought I'd just put this out there.

An easy way to test circuits virtually is by using Verilog. I used it in my computer architecture class to help simulate complicated circuits, including registers, adders, and pipelined MIPS processors. In the beginning of the course, we used it to develop simple logic circuits to help familiarize with the language. Obviously, for the scope of Circuit Lab, you aren't going to be tested on computer architecture circuits, but simply just basic logic.

The language itself is pretty easy to learn. I'd say that the only downside is the installation process which might seem a bit complicated. Also, the program works best on Unix. (Installing it on Windows is kind of a pain, so I'd recommend you to get and setup the Ubuntu client for Windows and then following the Unix/Linux instructions if you want to install iVerilog. MacOS is built on top of Unix, so it's less of a pain.) Another hurdle some people might have is that this is a command line program, meaning the Verilog code must be complied and run using commands. I feel this is more of a learning curve as commands can found through some Google searches, but some people might not want to go through the hassle.

Again, Verilog is something that isn't necessary to have to evaluate these types of circuits, as it is really meant to evaluate registers and other computer circuits. I just wanted to put it out there, because you never know where it might come in handy for.

[cqcumbr]

Does anyone have a list of the subjects/concepts/etc. that they have seen on circuit lab tests (common and uncommon)?

[azboy1910]

Does anyone have a list of the subjects/concepts/etc. that they have seen on circuit lab tests (common and uncommon)?

For a decent test, I usually see a variety of topics included on the test, and most if not all of the topics included in the rules. For a test with lower quality, I usually see some, but not many topics included from the rules.

Topics that are common on lots of tests I have seen are DC Circuit Analysis and Theory, History, or Magnetism. Other than though, the other topics included in this event are a little more uncommon, but definitely do appear on tests, just probably not as often as the topics I have stated.