The Pennsylvania State University

Department of Electrical Engineering

EE 211/EE 212
Sample Midterm Exam #1B

Student Name:

PSU ID #:

This exam is intended to give you practice solving problems that are typically found on mid-
term exams. There are 20 multiple-choice problems covering the topics from lectures 1 – 10.

page 1/12
Multiple choice questions; only one correct answer for each question.

1-2. The current through a 10-Ω resistor has the profile shown below.

1. Determine the net charge that passes through the resistor during the time interval
0 ≤ t ≤ 6 s.

A. C
B. 2 C
C. 4 C
D. 8 C
E. 16 C

2. The instantaneous power absorbed by the resistor is maximum at which time?

A. 2 s
B. 3 s
C. 4 s
D. 5 s
E. 6 s

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3. In the circuit below, element 2 absorbs 15 W from the circuit. How much power is
supplied to the circuit by the current source?

+_
1 2V
2A
5A
4A +
2

A. 5 W
B. 10 W
C. 15 W
D. 20 W
E. 25 W

4. Determine the current iX flowing through the left 2  resistor in the direction indicated.

2 2

iX

4V 8V

A. 1 A
B. −1 A
C. 2 A
D. −2 A
E. 3 A

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5. Determine which circuit is a simplification of the circuit below.

10 V


3A 30  5A 30  30 


15 V

A.
25V

8A 15  30 

B.
25 V


8A 30  60 

C.

2A 30  5V 60 



D.

2A 10  5V


E.
5V


2A 15  30 

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6. Determine the current Ix in the following circuit.

Ix
+
15 V 5Ω Vx
−

2Vx −
+ 30 V

A. −6 A
B. −3 A
C. −1 A
D. 1 A
E. 3 A

7. Determine the value of the voltage drop VX across the 4-Ω resistor.

+
0.5 VX 4 Vx 2A
−

A.

B. 8 V
C. −8 V
D. 2 V
E. −2 V

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8. Determine the circuit’s equivalent resistance, Req.
2 k

5 k 4 k
Req

12 k 4 k 4 k

A. 4 kΩ
B. 6 kΩ
C. 8 kΩ
D. 16 kΩ
E. 18 kΩ

9. All five resistors in the following circuit have the same resistance R. Find the circuit’s
equivalent resistance, Req.

A. 0.5 R
B. 1.0 R
C. 1.33 R
D. 1.5 R
E. 2.0 R

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10. The voltage drop Vx in the following circuit is:
6

+
3 Vx
-
60V

6 6

A. 6 V
B. 12 V
C. 15 V
D. 20 V
E. 30 V

11. Determine the current Ix flowing through the rightmost 10  resistor in the circuit below.

Ix

10  60 mA 10  5

A. 15 mA
B. 20 mA
C. 30 mA
D. 40 mA
E. 60 mA

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12-13. Consider the following potentiometer circuit.

15 k

12 V 10 k VO
pot

5 k

12. Determine the range of the voltage Vo as the potentiometer wiper sweeps through its full
range of motion.

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

13. If the 10-kΩ potentiometer were replaced by a potentiometer with a larger resistance,
what would happen to the Vo voltage swing?

A. The upper and lower voltage limits would both increase.

B. The upper and lower voltage limits would both decrease.
C. The upper voltage limit would increase; the lower voltage limit would decrease.
D. The upper voltage limit would decrease; the lower voltage limit would increase.
E. Neither voltage limit would change.

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14-15. A practical DC power supply can be modeled as an ideal voltage source VO and an
internal resistance RO. It is connected to a load resistor RL as shown below.

Practical Power Supply

RO
+
VO RL VL
-

14. If the voltage source is set to VO = 12 V and the voltage drop VL across a 10  load
resistor is measured to be 8 V, determine the internal resistance of the power supply.

A. 1 
B. 2 
C. 4 
D. 5 
E. Not enough information is provided to determine RO.

15. Which of the following statements below pertaining to the practical power supply model
is TRUE?

Decreasing the load resistance RL will always:

A. decrease the current drawn from the voltage source VO.

B. decrease the power supplied by the voltage source VO.
C. decrease the voltage drop across the internal resistance RO.
D. decrease the power absorbed by the internal resistance RO.
E. decrease the voltage drop, VL, across the load resistance RL.

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16. Simplify the following circuit to an equivalent series-connected voltage source and
resistor.

4 k 15 V

5V 
 6 k 12 k

A. B.
 20 V 
 8 k
10 V  8 k

C. D.
20 V 

 2 k 10 V 4 k


E.
10 V 
 2 k

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17. Determine Req for the network below:

6 k

8 k
2 k
Req 20 k

16 k

A 4 k
B. 10 k
C. 20 k
D. 24 k
E. 52 k

18. Consider a practical voltage source connected to a load as show below.

Practical Voltage Source

Ro +
Vo VL RL
-

Which statement about this connection is incorrect?

A. The load voltage VL decreases as the load resistance RL decreases.

B. The load voltage VL increases as the source resistance Ro decreases.
C. For VL to be close to Vo, RL >> RO.
Vo 2  RL
D. The power absorbed by the load is .
( RL  Ro )2

Vo 2
E. The power delivered by the source is .
Ro

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19-20. This circuit is to be used for the following two problems.
4 6
+
Vx 2A I 
 10 V
10 
–

19. Using source transformation, determine the current I shown in the circuit.

A. 0.1 A
B. 0.5 A
C. 1.0 A
D. 1.5 A
E. 3.0 A

20. Using source transformation, determine the voltage drop Vx shown in the circuit.

A. 5 V
B. 10 V
C. 15 V
D. 20 V
E. 30 V

page 12/12