An alternating current is supplied to an electronic component with a warning that the voltage across it should never exceed 12 V.What is the highest rms voltage that can be supplied to this component while staying below the voltage limit in the warning?
A) 6 V
B) 12 V
C) 144 V
D) 6 V

Question

An alternating current is supplied to an electronic component with a warning that the voltage across it should never exceed 12 V.What is the highest rms voltage that can be supplied to this component while staying below the voltage limit in the warning?
A) 6 V 
B) 12 V 
C) 144 V 
D) 6 V

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The rms voltage of an AC source is equal to its peak voltage divided by the square root of two (V_rms= V_peak/√2). Therefore, to ensure that the voltage across the component never exceeds 12 V, the peak voltage must be limited to 12√2= 16.97 V. The highest rms voltage that can be supplied to the component is 16.97/√2= 12 V. However, the question asks for the highest rms voltage that is below the voltage limit, so the answer is half of that or 6 V.

An Alternating Current Is Supplied to an Electronic Component with a Warning