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Component 1 Principles of Electronics

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do we describe an alternating signal, and why does the opposition of a capacitor or inductor depend on frequency?

AC signals and reactance: amplitude, peak-to-peak, period and frequency of a sinusoid, root-mean-square values, and the frequency-dependent reactance of capacitors and inductors.
An Eduqas A-Level Electronics answer on alternating signals and reactance: amplitude, peak-to-peak, period and frequency of a sinusoid, the root-mean-square value and its relation to the peak, and the frequency-dependent reactance of capacitors and inductors that underlies all filtering.
13 min answer →

How do capacitors and inductors store energy, and how do they charge and discharge through a resistor?

Capacitors and inductors: capacitance and stored energy, the RC time constant and exponential charge and discharge, inductance and stored energy, and combining capacitors in series and parallel.
An Eduqas A-Level Electronics answer on capacitors and inductors: capacitance and the energy stored in a capacitor, the RC time constant and exponential charge and discharge, inductance and the energy stored in an inductor, and how capacitors combine in series and parallel (the reverse of resistors).
14 min answer →

How do Ohm's law and Kirchhoff's two laws let us analyse any resistive electronic circuit?

Circuit fundamentals: charge, current, voltage and resistance, Ohm's law, Kirchhoff's current and voltage laws, combining resistors in series and parallel, and electrical power.
An Eduqas A-Level Electronics answer on circuit fundamentals: charge, current, voltage and resistance, Ohm's law, Kirchhoff's current and voltage laws as conservation of charge and energy, combining resistors in series and parallel, and calculating electrical power in a circuit.
13 min answer →

How does an RC network pass some frequencies and block others, and what is the cut-off frequency?

Passive filters: RC low-pass and high-pass filters, the cut-off frequency, voltage gain in decibels, and reading a frequency-response (Bode) plot.
An Eduqas A-Level Electronics answer on passive filters: how RC low-pass and high-pass networks select frequencies, the cut-off frequency formula, voltage gain expressed in decibels, and how to read a frequency-response (Bode) plot including the half-power point.
13 min answer →

How does a potential divider set a reference voltage and turn a sensor into a usable signal?

Potential dividers: the divider equation, loading effects, and sensing circuits using thermistors, light-dependent resistors and strain gauges to convert a physical quantity into a voltage.
An Eduqas A-Level Electronics answer on potential dividers and sensing: the potential-divider equation, how loading a divider changes its output, and how thermistors, light-dependent resistors and strain gauges form the input subsystem of a sensing circuit that converts temperature, light or strain into a voltage.
13 min answer →

How does Thevenin's theorem reduce a complicated network to a single source and resistance, and when is power transfer greatest?

Thevenin's theorem: replacing a linear network by an equivalent electromotive force and series resistance, finding the Thevenin voltage and resistance, and the maximum power transfer condition.
An Eduqas A-Level Electronics answer on Thevenin's theorem: how to replace any linear two-terminal network by a single equivalent electromotive force in series with a resistance, how to find the Thevenin voltage and Thevenin resistance, and the maximum power transfer theorem with its impedance-matching consequence.
13 min answer →