Introductionp

PART 1: NCEES PE EXAM REQUIREMENTS REQUIREMENTS )F A QUESTION INVOLVES ITEMS A 0% CAN

AND ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGE

SOLVE BUT WOULD NOT KNOW IN GENERALًSUCH AS THE
SPECIFICATION DATA FOR A GIVEN MULTIPLEXING STANDARD
4HE GOAL OF THIS BOOK AND YOUR LIKELY REASON FOR PUR ًTHEN THAT INFORMATION WILL BE PROVIDED
CHASING IT IS TO HELP YOU PASS THE 0ROFESSIONAL %NGINEER
ING 0% EXAMINATION AND BECOME A LICENSED ENGINEER • 4HE INDEX IS A GOOD PLACE TO START WHEN COMPARING
AND TO THAT END THIS BOOK IS COMMITTED 4HOUGH FROM .#%%3 EXAM REQUIREMENTS TO BOOK CONTENTS OR
EXPERIENCE ) KNOW YOUَLL FIND IT USEFUL IN DAY TO DAY WHEN LOOKING UP ANY TOPIC OF CONCERN 4HE INDEX CON
ENGINEERING DUTIES FOR THAT QUICK REFRESHER THAT ENABLES TAINS ALL THE KEYWORDS FROM THE REQUIREMENTS GENERIC
TOP PERFORMANCE !CHIEVING THIS GOAL MEANS BEING WORDING USED BY ENGINEERS AND OTHER WORDS THAT
FOCUSED ON THE .#%%3 EXAM REQUIREMENTS 4HE CURRENT MAY BE IN USE FOR A PARTICULAR THEORY CIRCUIT OR
.#%%3 EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS ARE SHOWN BY SEC METHOD
TIONS IN 4ABLE  THROUGH 4ABLE 
4HE EXAMINATION AND LICENSING PROCESS IS NOT EASY NOR
4HE 00) TEAM IS DEDICATED TO ENSURING ALL PRODUCTS SHOULD IT BE !S A PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER YOU WILL IMPACT
MEET CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS AND FOCUS ON THE .#%%3 MANY SYSTEMS AND AS A RESULT MANY PEOPLE 4HE END
0% EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS "UT A FEW ADDITIONAL RESULT HOWEVER IS THE SATISFACTION OF KNOWING YOU HAVE
ITEMS SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY THOSE TAKING THE EXAMI COMPARED YOURSELF TO THE BEST AND ARE NOW AMONG THEM
NATION 4HE ITEMS LISTED BELOW ARE BASED ON THE AUTHORَS 4HIS TEXT WILL MAKE THE PROCESS OF PREPARING FOR THE 0%
EXPERIENCE IN MONITORING AND RESPONDING TO MULTIPLE EXAM UNDERSTANDABLE ORGANIZED AND THOROUGH 4HE
CHANGES TO THE .#%%3 REQUIREMENTS AS WELL AS FEEDBACK RESULT BEYOND PASSING AND BECOMING LICENSED WILL BE
FROM READERS GAINING THE RESPECT OF YOUR PEERS AND PROVIDING YOURSELF
WITH ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES WELL INTO THE FUTURE
• 4HE WORDING OF CODES AND REQUIREMENTS MAY OFTEN
CHANGE BUT THE KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED TO PASS RARELY )F ) CAN IMPART ONE OTHER PIECE OF GUIDANCE IT WOULD BE
DOES ALLOWING THIS TEXT TO REMAIN USEFUL FOR A LONG TO REMEMBER ّ+NOWLEDGE )S 0OWERْ .O MATTER YOUR DES
TIME .EVERTHELESS THIS BOOK RESPONDS TO ALL SUCH TINATION OR GOALS KNOWLEDGE WILL BE THE KEY TO ACHIEVE
CHANGES MENT !LL THE BEST

• #HANGES TO REQUIREMENTS POTENTIALLY BRING MORE

CLARITY AND FOCUS TO CERTAIN TYPES OF CIRCUITS 7HERE PART 2: HOW YOU CAN USE THIS BOOK

CONTENT ON CIRCUITS HAS BEEN ADDED OR EXPANDED ON
THE EXAM THOSE CIRCUITS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THIS
BOOK QUICK START

• %XAMINATION PROBLEMS MAY SEEM COMPLEX BUT THE
AVERAGE TIME ALLOTTED FOR A SOLUTION IS SIX MINUTES )F YOUَRE THE TYPE OF READER WHO DESIRES INFORMATION DIS
3O REGARDLESS OF THE APPARENT DESIGN COMPLEXITY THE TILLED INTO CONCISE BITS AND YOUَRE READY TO BEGIN YOUR
QUESTION IS LIKELY ASKING FOR ONLY ONE ASPECT OF THE STUDY THEN THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU READ THIS SECTION
DESIGN THAT CAN BE DETERMINED IN THE ALLOCATED TIME AND GET STARTED

• +NOWING THE BASICS ALLOWS ONE TO SOLVE PROBLEMS OF ) SAY ّTHIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOUْ FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS
IMMENSE COMPLEXITY #OMPLEX DESIGNS CAN BE BUILT
USING SIMPLE CIRCUITS /NE CAN UNDERSTAND VERY COM • 4HE PRACTICE FOLLOWED IN WRITING THIS BOOK WAS TO
PLEX DESIGNS BY STUDYING THE INDIVIDUAL PIECES TAKE COMPLEX TOPICS AND PARSE THEM INTO CONDENSED
READABLE AND UNDERSTANDABLE CHUNKS
• 4HE 0% EXAM TESTS ّKNOWLEDGE THAT THE AVERAGE 0%
SHOULD KNOWْ ACCORDING TO THE .#%%3 EXAM


4HIS ALSO EXPLAINS THE REASON THAT EXAMPLE AND PRACTICE PROBLEMS MAY SEEM SIMPLER THAN THOSE PROVIDED ON THE .#%%3 EXAM 4HE INTENT IS TO PRO
VIDE A RANGE OF PROBLEMS FROM SIMPLE TO COMPLEX TO ALLOW FOR THOROUGH PREPARATION

+EYWORDS ARE MENTIONED BUT EVERY EFFORT IS MADE TO INCLUDE ALL .#%%3 WORDS 3OME KEYWORDS SUCH AS APPLICATIONS DESIGN OR ANALYSIS INVOLVE MUL
TIPLE TOPICS CHAPTERS SECTIONS AND CIRCUITS AND ARE THUS COVERED THROUGHOUT THIS BOOK

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m
xviii
xviiil E L E C T R O N I C S , C O N T R O L S & C O M M U N I C A T I O N S R E F E R E N C E M A N U A L

Table 1 NCEES Electrical and Computer–Electronics, Controls, and Communications 2018 Requirements Section I
2EFERENCE -ANUAL BACKGROUND AND
3UBJECTSJ 2EFERENCE -ANUAL COVERAGEJ RELATED INFORMATIONJ
) 'ENERAL %LECTRICAL %NGINEERING +NOWLEDGE 4OPICS ) )) ))) )6 8)) 86
! #IRCUIT !NALYSIS 4OPIC )6
 0ASSIVE COMPONENTS #HAP    4ABLE  #HAP 
#HAP    
 !CTIVE COMPONENTS #HAP        #HAP   
 $# CIRCUITS #HAP 
 !# CIRCUITS #HAP 
 4RANSIENT ANALYSIS #HAP 
 0OWER AND ENERGY CALCULATIONS #HAP     #HAP    
4ABLE 
#HAP  
 "ATTERY CHARACTERISTICS AND RATINGS #HAP 
" -EASUREMENT AND )NSTRUMENTATION 4OPIC 6))) #HAP 
 4RANSDUCER CHARACTERISTICS #HAP  #HAP   !PP "
 /PERATIONAL AMPLIFIERS #HAP 
 3YSTEM ANALYSIS #HAP 
 3YSTEM DESIGN #HAP  
# 3AFETY AND 2ELIABILITY 4OPIC 6) #HAP 
 3YSTEM INTERFACES #HAP  #HAP  
 &AILURE LIMITS AND CIRCUIT PROTECTIONISOLATION #HAP  #HAP 
 3AFETY GROUNDING #HAP 
 %LECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY AND INTERFERENCE #HAP  
 %LECTROMAGNETIC EXPOSURE #HAP  
 2ELIABILITY #HAP  #HAP 
 %LECTRIC SHOCK AND BURNS #HAP  
$ 3IGNAL 0ROCESSING 4OPICS ) )6 6)) )8 8) 8)) #HAP   
 3AMPLING THEORY ALIASING .YQUIST SAMPLING RATE #HAP  
 4RANSFORMS AND APPLICATIONS #HAP       #HAP 
 !NALOG TO DIGITAL !$ AND DIGITAL TO ANALOG #HAP  
$! CONVERSIONS
 &ILTERING #HAP       #HAP  

Table 2 NCEES Electrical and Computer–Electronics, Controls, and Communications 2018 Requirements Section II
2EFERENCE -ANUAL BACKGROUND AND
3UBJECTSJ 2EFERENCE -ANUAL COVERAGEJ RELATED INFORMATIONJ
)) $IGITAL 3YSTEMS 4OPIC 8 #HAP 
! $IGITAL ,OGIC #HAP 
 "OOLEAN ALGEBRA #HAP  #HAP  
 #OMBINATIONAL AND SEQUENTIAL LOGIC #HAP   
" $IGITAL #OMPONENTS 4OPIC 8
 $IGITAL DEVICES #HAP  
 -EMORY DEVICES #HAP   #HAP  
 0ROGRAMMABLE LOGIC DEVICES #HAP   #HAP 
 -ICROCONTROLLERSEMBEDDED SYSTEMS #HAP 

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m
 I N T R O D U C T I O N xix
lxix

Table 3 NCEES Electrical and Computer–Electronics, Controls, and Communications 2018 Requirements Section III
2EFERENCE -ANUAL BACKGROUND AND
3UBJECTSJ 2EFERENCE -ANUAL COVERAGEJ RELATED INFORMATIONJ
))) %LECTROMAGNETICS 4OPIC )) )))
! %LECTROMAGNETIC &IELDS 4OPIC )))
 3TATIC ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS #HAP      #HAP 
 %LECTROMAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS #HAP         #HAP    
CONDUCTIVITY PERMITTIVITY PERMEABILITY
 %LECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND PROPAGATION #HAP    4ABLE 
 %LECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY #HAP  
" 'UIDED 7AVES 4OPIC 8)
 4RANSMISSION LINES AND WAVEGUIDES #HAP   #HAP 
 /PTICAL FIBERS #HAP 
# !NTENNAS 4OPIC 8) #HAP 
 'AIN PATTERNS AND POLARIZATION #HAP  
 )MPEDANCE #HAP 
 4RANSMITRECEIVE ANTENNA SYSTEM EG LINK BUDGET #HAP 

Table 4 NCEES Electrical and Computer–Electronics, Controls, and Communications 2018 Requirements Section IV
2EFERENCE -ANUAL BACKGROUND AND
3UBJECTSJ 2EFERENCE -ANUAL COVERAGEJ RELATED INFORMATIONJ
)6 %LECTRONICS 4OPIC )8
! %LECTRONICS #IRCUITS 4OPICS )) )6 )8
 3MALL SIGNAL AND LARGE SIGNAL MODELS #HAP      #HAP 
 !CTIVE NETWORKS AND FILTERS #HAP       #HAP  
 .ONLINEAR CIRCUITS EG COMPARATORS DIODE ETC #HAP     #HAP 
 3INUSOIDAL STEADY STATE ANALYSIS #HAP   #HAP  
 4RANSIENT ANALYSIS #HAP   
 0OWER ENERGY AND HEAT DISSIPATION #HAP     
" %LECTRONIC #OMPONENTS AND !PPLICATIONS 4OPICS )6 6) )8 8)
 $IODES TRANSISTORS AND APPLICATIONS #HAP        
 3OLID STATE POWER DEVICES AND POWER ELECTRONICS #HAP   
APPLICATIONS
 0OWER SUPPLIES #HAP    #HAP  
 /SCILLATORS AND PHASE LOCKED LOOPS #HAP  
 !MPLIFIERS #HAP   
 -ODULATORS AND DEMODULATORS #HAP   #HAP  

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m
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xxl E L E C T R O N I C S , C O N T R O L S & C O M M U N I C A T I O N S R E F E R E N C E M A N U A L

Table 5 NCEES Electrical and Computer–Electronics, Controls, and Communications 2018 Requirements Section V
2EFERENCE -ANUAL BACKGROUND AND
3UBJECTSJ 2EFERENCE -ANUAL COVERAGEJ RELATED INFORMATIONJ

6 #ONTROL 3YSTEMS 4OPIC 8))

! !NALYSIS AND $ESIGN OF !NALOG OR $IGITAL #ONTROL #HAP 
3YSTEMS
 "LOCK DIAGRAMS AND SIGNAL FLOW GRAPHS #HAP 
 #HARACTERISTIC EQUATIONS #HAP 
 &REQUENCY RESPONSE #HAP     #HAP 
 4IME RESPONSE #HAP   #HAP   
 #ONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION #HAP 
EG COMPENSATORS STEADY STATE ERROR
 3TABILITY EG TESTS "ODE PLOTS ROOT LOCUS #HAP 
TRANSPORT DELAY

Table 6 NCEES Electrical and Computer–Electronics, Controls, and Communications 2018 Requirements Section VI
2EFERENCE -ANUAL BACKGROUND AND
3UBJECTSJ 2EFERENCE -ANUAL COVERAGEJ RELATED INFORMATIONJ

6) #OMMUNICATIONS 4OPIC 8)

! -ODULATION 4ECHNIQUES #HAP 
 !NALOG MODULATION #HAP 
 $IGITAL MODULATION #HAP 
 3PREAD SPECTRUM MODULATION #HAP 
" .OISE AND )NTERFERENCE 4OPIC 8)
 3IGNAL TO NOISE RATIO #HAP   
 1UANTIZATION NOISE #HAP 
 .OISE FIGURE AND TEMPERATURE #HAP   
 )NTERFERENCE EG JAMMING SPECTRUM ALLOCATION #HAP   #HAP  
 #ODING ERROR DETECTION AND CORRECTION #HAP 
# #OMMUNICATIONS 3YSTEMS 4OPIC 8)
 7IRED OR OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS #HAP      #HAP 
 7IRELESS COMMUNICATIONS #HAP   
 -ULTIPLE ACCESS TECHNIQUES 4$-! #3-!#$ #HAP   
7$- ETC
 4RAFFIC CAPACITY ANALYSIS #HAP 

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m
 I N T R O D U C T I O N xxi
lxxi

• 4HE 0% EXAM CONSISTS OF PROBLEMS THAT REQUIRE ON FOR THE PE CANDIDATE

AVERAGE SIX MINUTES TO SOLVE 4HE EXAM PROBLEMS
FOCUS ON SMALL PORTIONS OF COMPLEX ELECTRICAL ENGI -AKE SURE YOU MEET THE REQUIREMENTS BEFORE TAKING THE
NEERING TOPICS 9OUR STUDY SHOULD FOLLOW THE SAME 0% EXAMًTHIS IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD LICENSURE 00)
PATTERN AND THIS BOOK IS WRITTEN AROUND THAT OFFERS SEVERAL TEXTS AND ONLINE RESOURCES TO PREPARE YOU
PATTERN FOR THIS CRUCIAL EXAM
• /NCE THE EXAM IS OVER THIS BOOK WILL REMAIN A USEFUL 7HILE YOU ARE PREPARING FOR THE 0% %LECTRICAL AND #OM
REMINDER OF THE BASICS !ND ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND THE PUTER EXAM THE FOLLOWING SUGGESTIONS MAY HELP
BASICS MUCH MORE COMPLEX PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED
BY BREAKING THEM INTO THEIR CONSTITUENT PARTS • #ONCENTRATE PRIMARILY ON THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ELEC
TRICAL ENGINEERING 4AKE TIME TO REVIEW THE PRINCIPLES
"ECAUSE THE CHAPTERS IN THIS BOOK ARE INDEPENDENT YOU OF ANY PROBLEM YOU FIND DIFFICULT
CAN FOCUS YOUR STUDY ON YOUR WEAKEST AREAS FIRST 2EVIEW
• 5SE THE )NDEX EXTENSIVELY %VERY SIGNIFICANT TERM
THE 4ABLE OF #ONTENTS TO FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THE
LAW THEOREM AND CONCEPT HAS BEEN INDEXED )F YOU
SCOPE OF THE BOOK THEN USE 4ABLE  IN THIS )NTRODUCTION
AS A GUIDE FOR FOCUSING YOUR STUDY 4HE )NDEX IS A GREAT DONَT RECOGNIZE A TERM LOOK FOR IT IN THE )NDEX AND
READ THE RELATED TEXT FOR A MORE COMPREHENSIVE OVER
STARTING PLACE TO SEARCH FOR SPECIFIC INFORMATION AND TO
VIEW 4HE )NDEX IS THE QUICKEST WAY TO FIND MATERIAL
PLAN YOUR REVIEW OF THE TOPICS COVERED BY THE .#%%3
IN AN EXAM SITUATION SO YOU SHOULD FAMILIARIZE YOUR
SPECIFICATIONS 4HE MATHEMATICS THEORY AND SPECIALTY
SELF WITH IT BEFORE EXAM DAY 'ENERAL TERMS OR CON
TOPICS WHILE NOT DIRECTLY LISTED IN THE .#%%3 REQUIRE
CEPTS WHICH ARE COVERED IN A VARIETY OF SUBJECT AREAS
MENTS SUPPLY FUNDAMENTAL BACKGROUND ON TOPICS THAT
MAY NOT BE INDEXED THOUGH THE SPECIFICS OF THE CON
MAY BE NECESSARY FOR THE OCCASIONAL PROBLEM ON THE
CEPTS WILL BE LISTED
EXAM 4HE !PPENDICES ARE SUCCINCT REFERENCES FOR COM
MON ELECTRICAL INFORMATION ) HAVE INCLUDED THE 0ROFES • 3OME SUBJECTS APPEAR IN MORE THAN ONE CHAPTER 5SE
SIONAL CHAPTERS TO REFINE YOUR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING THE )NDEX LIBERALLY AND LEARN ALL THERE IS TO KNOW
KNOWLEDGE AND ROUND OUT THE KNOWLEDGE BASE YOU HAVE ABOUT A PARTICULAR SUBJECT
AVAILABLE FOR YOUR CAREER
• +NOW WHICH SUBJECTS IN THIS BOOK ARE COVERED ON THE
#OMMENCE STUDY IMMEDIATELY 3IX MONTHS IS NOT AN 0% EXAM AND WHICH ARE PROVIDED AS SUPPORT MATE
UNREASONABLE TIMEFRAME TO PREPARE THOUGH YOUR LEARN RIAL #HAPTERS ‫ ي‬AND ‫ ي‬ARE SUPPORTIVE AND DO
ING CURVE WILL VARY DEPENDING UPON YOUR BACKGROUND NOT COVER EXAM SUBJECTS 4HEY DO HOWEVER PROVIDE
3TART WITH YOUR WEAKEST AREAS AND WORK TOWARD YOUR BACKGROUND FOR THE OTHER CHAPTERS ENHANCE UNDER
STRONGEST 2EVIEW EVERY WEEK STANDING OF FUNDAMENTALS AND ARE USEFUL FOLLOWING
7ORK PROBLEMS THREE TO FIVE TIMES A WEEK 4HE KEY TO THE EXAM FOR QUICK REFERENCE 4HE EXAM SUBJECTS
SUCCESS ON THE EXAM IS TO WORK AS MANY PROBLEMS AS POS KNOWN AT THE TIME OF THIS PRINTING ARE PROVIDED IN
SIBLE 5SE ALL THE 00) RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO YOU THIS 4ABLE  4HESE ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE THE MOST UP
MANUALَS COMPANION %LECTRONICS #ONTROLS AND #OM TO DATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND ON 00)َS WEBSITE AT
MUNICATIONS 0RACTICE 0ROBLEMS 00) ,EARNING (UB AND PPIPASSCOM
%LECTRONICS #ONTROLS AND #OMMUNICATIONS 0RACTICE • "ECOME INTENSELY FAMILIAR WITH THIS BOOK 4HIS
%XAM "ROWSE THE 00) WEBSITE OTHER PRODUCTS ARE MEANS KNOWING THE ORDER OF THE CHAPTERS THE
ALWAYS UNDER DEVELOPMENT IN THE CONTINUING EXPANSION APPROXIMATE LOCATION OF IMPORTANT FIGURES AND
OF EXAM MATERIALS AND YOU MAY FIND THE IDEAL RESOURCE TABLES WHAT APPENDICES ARE AVAILABLE AND SO ON
DESIGNED TO HELP YOU PASS THE EXAM
• !FTER REVIEWING A CHAPTER OF THIS BOOK SOLVE EACH OF
4HIS BOOK FOCUSES ON THE BASICS THAT ARE THE BUILDING
THE RELATED PROBLEMS IN THE COMPANION VOLUME %LEC
BLOCKS OF ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGE )T IS THE BASICS THAT ARE
TRONICS #ONTROLS AND #OMMUNICATIONS 0RACTICE
NECESSARY TO SOLVE COMPLEX PROBLEMS WHICH CAN ALWAYS 0ROBLEMS
BE DIVIDED INTO SIMPLER INDIVIDUAL CONCEPTS ! THOROUGH
REVIEW OF THE BASICS TERMINOLOGY AND PROBLEMS IN THIS • 0RACTICE IN PROBLEM SOLVING IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS ON
TEXT AND THE COMPANION %LECTRONICS #ONTROLS AND THE EXAM 2EVIEW EXAMPLES AND SOLVE AS MANY PROB
#OMMUNICATIONS 0RACTICE 0ROBLEMS BOOK WILL ENABLE LEMS AS POSSIBLE IN THE COMPANION VOLUME )TَS A
THE STUDIOUS READER TO SOLVE THE VARIETY OF PROBLEMS THAT GOOD IDEA TO BEGIN WITH PROBLEMS THAT FALL IN YOUR
MIGHT APPEAR ON THE 0% EXAM OR ON THE JOB #ONTINUE TO WEAKEST AREAS AND WORK TOWARD YOUR STRONGER AREAS
STUDY UNTIL THE EXAM DATE %NJOY THE LEARNING PROCESS
AND REVEL IN THE KNOWLEDGE GAINED • 5SE THE ANSWERS TO THE PRACTICE PROBLEMS TO CHECK
YOUR WORK )F YOUR ANSWER DOESNَT MATCH THE GIVEN
)F YOU ARE THE TYPE OF READER THAT DESIRES A MORE THOR SOLUTION STUDY THE SOLUTION TO DETERMINE WHY 4HE
OUGH REVIEW AND PLAN AND A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF MAJORITY OF THIS BOOK USES 3) UNITS EXCEPT WHERE CUS
THE 0% EXAM BEFORE COMMENCING YOUR STUDIES PROCEED TOMARY 53 %NGLISH UNITS ARE THE STANDARD 3OME
TO THE REST OF THE )NTRODUCTION EQUATIONS IN THE 53 SYSTEM USE THE TERM GGC &OR

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xxiil E L E C T R O N I C S , C O N T R O L S & C O M M U N I C A T I O N S R E F E R E N C E M A N U A L

CALCULATIONS AT STANDARD GRAVITY  IS THE NUMERI 4HIS BOOK IS INTENDED AS A BROAD OVERVIEW OF THE FUNDA
CAL VALUE OF THIS FRACTION 4HEREFORE IT IS NECESSARY TO MENTALS OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING (ERE
INCORPORATE THIS QUANTITY ONLY IN PROBLEMS WITH A YOU SHOULD FIND THE TOPICS AND TERMS YOU DEAL WITH
NONSTANDARD GRAVITY OR WHEN BEING METICULOUS WITH DAILY AS WELL AS MANY THAT YOU RARELY ENCOUNTER !LL ARE
UNITS DISCUSSED IN ENOUGH DEPTH THAT THIS BOOK MAY BE YOUR
FIRST AND LAST SOURCE OF INFORMATION !T THE VERY LEAST
• 5SE 4ABLE  3CHEDULE FOR 3ELF 3TUDY AS YOUR GUIDE YOU WILL FIND THE TERM YOU ARE LOOKING FOR ITS RELATIVE
FOR FOCUSING YOUR EXAM PREPARATION 4ABLE  IS FOUND PLACE IN THE SPECTRUM OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGI
AT THE END OF THIS )NTRODUCTION 0RACTICE BY COMPLET NEERING AND ENOUGH INFORMATION TO PERFORM A SEARCH
ING AS MANY PROBLEMS AS POSSIBLE 2EMEMBER THAT THROUGH OTHER SOURCES FOR MORE DETAILS
YOUَLL HAVE AN AVERAGE OF ONLY SIX MINUTES PER PROB
LEM ON THE EXAM SO DETAILED DESIGN IS NOT POSSIBLE
2ATHER IT IS MORE LIKELY THAT YOU WILL NEED TO SOLVE A IF YOU ARE AN INSTRUCTOR

PORTION OF A DESIGN PROBLEM COMPLETE A PIECE OF AN
ANALYSIS PUZZLE OR DEMONSTRATE AN UNDERSTANDING OF )F YOU ARE TEACHING A REVIEW COURSE FOR THE 0% EXAM
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OR STANDARD PRACTICE WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF RECENT FIRSTHAND EXAM EXPERI
ENCE YOU CAN USE THE MATERIAL IN THIS BOOK AS A GUIDE TO
PREPARE YOUR LECTURES 9OUR STUDENTS SHOULD USE THE
IF YOU ARE A PRACTICING ENGINEER OR BOOK AS A TEXTBOOK 9OU SHOULD EMPHASIZE THE SUBJECTS
AN ENGINEERING STUDENT
 IN EACH CHAPTER AND AVOID SUBJECTS THAT WERE OMITTED
3UBJECTS THAT DO NOT APPEAR IN THIS BOOK HAVE RARELY IF
)F YOU ARE A PRACTICING ENGINEER OR AN ENGINEERING MAJOR EVER APPEARED ON THE 0% EXAM
AND HAVE OBTAINED THIS BOOK AS A GENERAL REFERENCE
HANDBOOK THE FOLLOWING SUGGESTIONS AND INFORMATION )N AN ATTEMPT TO OVER PREPARE STUDENTS ) SUGGEST ASSIGN
MAY BE OF ASSISTANCE ING HOMEWORK WITH PRACTICE PROBLEMS THAT ARE MORE DIF
FICULT AND MORE VARIED THAN ACTUAL EXAM PROBLEMS )T IS
• "OTH THE )NDEX AND 4ABLE OF #ONTENTS ARE EXTENSIVE OFTEN MORE EFFICIENT TO COVER SEVERAL PROCEDURAL STEPS IN
AND MEANT AS THE STARTING POINT FOR ANY INFORMATION ONE PRACTICE PROBLEM THAN TO ASK SIMPLE ّONE LINERSْ OR
DESIRED %VERY SIGNIFICANT TERM LAW THEOREM AND DEFINITION PROBLEMS
CONCEPT HAS BEEN INDEXED IN EVERY CONCEIVABLE WAYً ّ#APACITY ASSIGNMENTْ SHOULD BE THE GOAL IN A SUCCESSFUL
BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS REVIEW COURSE 4O DO ALL THE HOMEWORK FOR SOME CHAPTERS
• #HAPTERS ARE GROUPED INTO INTERRELATED TOPICS EACH REQUIRES APPROXIMATELY  TO  HOURS OF PREPARATION
OFFERING A BROAD OVERVIEW OF A GIVEN AREA OF ELECTRICAL PER WEEK /NE STUDENT MAY BE ABLE TO PUT IN  HOURS
ENGINEERING )F YOU WANT A QUICK INTRODUCTION TO A WHILE ANOTHER MAY ONLY BE ABLE TO PUT IN  HOURS
GIVEN TOPIC REFER TO THAT PORTION OF THE BOOK ASSIGNING THE FULL  HOURS OF HOMEWORK ENSURES THAT
EACH STUDENT IS WORKING TO HIS OR HER CAPACITY !FTER THE
• 4HE MATHEMATICS CHAPTERS CAN BE USED AS QUICK 0% EXAM BOTH STUDENTS WILL HONESTLY SAY THAT THEY
REVIEWS WHEN WORKING ANY ENGINEERING PROBLEMS COULD NOT HAVE PREPARED ANY MORE THAN THEY DID IN YOUR
COURSE
• 4HE !DVANCED %NGINEERING -ATHEMATICS CHAPTER
PROVIDES IN SIMPLE BUT ACCURATE TERMS THE INFORMA )NSTEAD OF INDIVIDUALLY GRADING STUDENTSَ HOMEWORK
TION NECESSARY TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE AND USE PERMIT STUDENTS TO MAKE USE OF EXISTING SOLUTIONS TO
OF VARIOUS ADVANCED MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS 4HIS CHECK THEIR OWN WORK AND LEARN APPROACHES TO THE PROB
SHOULD ALLOW YOU TO MORE FULLY COMPREHEND AND LEMS IN THEIR HOMEWORK SET 4HIS WILL ALLOW YOU TO
APPRECIATE PROFESSIONAL JOURNALS OR ENGINEERING ADDRESS SPECIAL NEEDS OR QUESTIONS WRITTEN ON THE ASSIGN
FOCUSED PRESENTATIONS THAT USE SUCH CONCEPTS WITHOUT MENTS RATHER THAN SIMPLY MARKING THE WORK AS RIGHT OR
RESORTING TO A COMPLETE REVIEW OF UNDERGRADUATE WRONG 3OLVED PRACTICE PROBLEMS ARE AVAILABLE IN THE
MATH TEXTS ACCOMPANYING %LECTRONICS #ONTROLS AND #OMMUNICA
TIONS 0RACTICE 0ROBLEMS TEXT
• 4HE !DVANCED %NGINEERING -ATHEMATICS CHAPTER IS
ALSO MEANT AS THE STARTING POINT FOR DELVING MORE ,ECTURE COVERAGE OF SOME EXAM SUBJECTS IS NECESSARILY
DEEPLY INTO ADVANCED MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS BY PRO BRIEF OTHER SUBJECTS ARE NOT COVERED AT ALL 4HESE OMIS
VIDING THE NAMES AND DEFINING THE VARIABLES OF OFTE SIONS ARE INTENTIONAL THEY ARE NOT THE RESULT OF SCHEDUL
NUSED MATHEMATICAL FORMULAS 4HIS IS DONE TO HELP ING 7HY &IRST TIME IS NOT ON YOUR SIDE IN A REVIEW
YOU THROUGH THOSE SITUATIONS WHERE YOU KNOW YOU COURSE 3ECOND SOME SUBJECTS RARELY APPEAR ON THE
NEED MORE MATHEMATICAL INFORMATION BUT DONَT EXAM 4HIRD THERE ARE SOME SUBJECTS THAT ARE NOT WELL
KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN WHAT QUESTIONS TO ASK OR WHAT RECEIVED BY THE STUDENTS BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT SUBJECTS
MATHEMATICAL CONCEPT IS INVOLVED THAT ARE PERTINENT TO ALL STUDENTSَ OBJECTIVES 5NLESS YOU
HAVE SIX MONTHS IN WHICH TO TEACH YOUR 0% REVIEW YOUR
• 4HE !PPENDICES ARE MEANT AS QUICK REFERENCES FOR STUDENTSَ TIME CAN BE BETTER SPENT COVERING TOPICS THAT
COMMON ELECTRICAL INFORMATION APPLY TO THE MAJORITY OF EXAMINEES 4ABLE  LISTS THE

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m
 I N T R O D U C T I O N xxiii
lxxiii

Table 7 Detailed Analysis of Tested Subjects

0% %LECTRICAL AND #OMPUTER %LECTRONICS #ONTROLS AND #OMMUNICATIONS %XAMINATION
'ENERAL %LECTRICAL %NGINEERING 
#IRCUIT ANALYSIS   PASSIVE COMPONENTS ACTIVE COMPONENTS $# CIRCUITS !# CIRCUITS TRANSIENT ANALYSIS POWER
AND ENERGY CALCULATIONS BATTERY CHARACTERISTICS AND RATINGS
-EASUREMENT AND INSTRUMENTATION   TRANSDUCER CHARACTERISTICS OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIERS SYSTEM ANALYSIS SYSTEM
DESIGN
3AFETY AND RELIABILITY   SYSTEM INTERFACES FAILURE LIMITS AND CIRCUIT PROTECTIONISOLATION SAFETY GROUNDING
ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY AND INTERFERENCE ELECTROMAGNETIC EXPOSURE RELIABILITY ELECTRIC SHOCK AND BURNS
3IGNAL PROCESSING   SAMPLING THEORY TRANSFORMS AND APPLICATIONS ANALOG TO DIGITAL AND DIGITAL TO ANALOG
CONVERSION FILTERING
$IGITAL 3YSTEMS 
$IGITAL LOGIC   "OOLEAN ALGEBRA COMBINATIONAL AND SEQUENTIAL LOGIC
$IGITAL COMPONENTS   DIGITAL DEVICES MEMORY DEVICES PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC DEVICES MICROCONTROLLERSEMBEDDED
SYSTEMS
%LECTROMAGNETICS 
%LECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS   STATIC ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS ELECTROMAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS
ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND PROPAGATION ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY
'UIDED WAVES   TRANSMISSION LINES AND WAVEGUIDES OPTICAL FIBERS
!NTENNAS   GAIN PATTERNS AND POLARIZATION IMPEDANCE TRANSMITRECEIVE ANTENNA SYSTEM
%LECTRONICS 
%LECTRONIC CIRCUITS   SMALL SIGNAL AND LARGE SIGNAL MODELS ACTIVE NETWORKS AND FILTERS NONLINEAR CIRCUITS
SINUSOIDAL STEADY STATE ANALYSIS TRANSIENT ANALYSIS POWER ENERGY AND HEAT DISSIPATION
%LECTRONIC COMPONENTS AND APPLICATIONS   DIODES TRANSISTORS AND APPLICATIONS SOLID STATE POWER DEVICES AND
POWER ELECTRONICS APPLICATIONS POWER SUPPLIES OSCILLATORS AND PHASE LOCKED LOOPS AMPLIFIERS MODULATORS AND
DEMODULATORS
#ONTROL 3YSTEMS 
!NALYSIS AND DESIGN OF ANALOG OR DIGITAL CONTROL SYSTEMS   BLOCK DIAGRAMS AND SIGNAL FLOW PATHS CHARACTERISTIC
EQUATIONS FREQUENCY RESPONSE TIME RESPONSE CONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION STABILITY
#OMMUNICATIONS 
-ODULATION TECHNIQUES   ANALOG MODULATION DIGITAL MODULATION SPREAD SPECTRUM MODULATION
.OISE AND INTERFERENCE   SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO QUANTIZATION NOISE NOISE FIGURE AND TEMPERATURE INTERFERENCE
CODING ERROR DETECTION AND CORRECTION
#OMMUNICATION SYSTEMS   WIRED OR OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS MULTIPLE ACCESS
TECHNIQUES TRAFFIC CAPACITY ANALYSIS

APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGE OF PROBLEMS ON THE EXAM THAT HIGH PROBABILITY SUBJECTSْ ) COVER EARLY IN THE COURSE
WILL BE DEVOTED TO A GIVEN TOPIC 5SING THIS PERCENTAGE THOSE SUBJECTS THAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO LEARN ) LEAVE THE
AND THE DEPTH OF COVERAGE IN THIS BOOK YOU CAN DECIDE MORE SPECIFIC SUBJECTS TO THE END
WHICH TOPICS TO FOCUS ON IN YOUR REVIEW COURSE
5SE THE FORMULAS ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES OF DATA IN THE
)N ORGANIZING THE REVIEW COURSE FORMAT OUTLINED IN TEXT TO MINIMIZE CHALKBOARD TIME !VOID PROOFS AND
4ABLE  ) HAVE TRIED TO ORDER THE SUBJECTS IN A LOGICAL EMPHASIZE PROBLEM SOLVING 4HE MORE PROBLEMS SOLVED
PROGRESSIVE MANNER KEEPING MY EYE ON ّPLAYING THE THE HIGHER THE CHANCES OF EXAM SUCCESS

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m
xxiv
xxivl E L E C T R O N I C S , C O N T R O L S & C O M M U N I C A T I O N S R E F E R E N C E M A N U A L

4HE PRACTICE PROBLEMS IN THE COMPANION VOLUME %LEC WHAT SUBJECTS ARE ON THE PE EXAM?

TRONICS #ONTROLS AND #OMMUNICATIONS 0RACTICE 0ROB
LEMS SPAN THE SPECTRUM FROM QUICK ANSWER TO IN DEPTH .#%%3 PUBLISHES 0% EXAM SPECIFICATIONSًA LIST OF THE
PROBING OF KNOWLEDGE 4HE MORE IN DEPTH PROBLEMS CAN KNOWLEDGE AREAS COVERED AND THEIR APPROXIMATE DISTRI
BE USED AS HOMEWORK OR TIMED PROBLEMS BUTION ON THE EXAM $ESPITE THE PUBLISHED EXAM STRUC
TURE THE EXACT NUMBER OF PROBLEMS THAT WILL APPEAR IN
/NE POSSIBLE REVIEW COURSE FORMAT IS OUTLINED IN 4ABLE 
EACH SUBJECT AREA CANNOT BE PREDICTED RELIABLY 4HERE IS
4HE SESSIONS ARE WEEKLY WITH THE COURSE LASTING THREE
NO GUARANTEE THAT ANY SINGLE SUBJECT WILL OCCUR IN ANY
AND A HALF MONTHS -OST SESSIONS COULD BE COVERED IN
QUANTITY
THREE HOURS OF LECTURE !LL THE SKIPPED CHAPTERS AND ANY
RELATED PRACTICE PROBLEMS ARE PRESENTED AS FLOATING !NY PROBLEM MAY BE CATEGORIZED IN A VARIETY OF AREAS
ASSIGNMENTS TO BE MADE UP IN THE STUDENTSَ ّFREE TIMEْ AND SUBJECTS &OR EXAMPLE A PROBLEM REGARDING -/3
&%4S MAY BE CONSIDERED AN %LECTRONICS PROBLEM IN THE
) STRONGLY BELIEVE IN EXPOSING STUDENTS TO A REALISTIC
AREA OF DIGITAL COMPONENTS A #OMPUTER PROBLEM IN THE
SAMPLE EXAM BUT SINCE THE REVIEW COURSE USUALLY ENDS
AREA OF MEMORY DEVICES OR DEPENDING ON THE WORDING A
ONLY A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE REAL 0% EXAM ) HESITATE TO
0OWER PROBLEM IN THE AREA OF LOAD SHARING
MAKE STUDENTS SIT FOR SEVERAL HOURS IN THE LATE EVENING TO
TAKE AN IN CLASS EXAM )NSTEAD ) RECOMMEND DISTRIBUT 4ABLE  DESCRIBES THE EXAM SUBJECTS IN DETAIL -OST
ING AND ASSIGNING A TAKE HOME SAMPLE EXAM AT THE FIRST EXAMINEES FIND THE LIST FORMIDABLE 4HE PERCENTAGE
MEETING OF THE REVIEW COURSE BREAKDOWNS IN 4ABLE  ARE ACCORDING TO .#%%3 BUT
THESE PERCENTAGES ARE APPROXIMATE .#%%3 ADDS
#AUTION YOUR STUDENTS NOT TO PEEK AT THE SAMPLE EXAM
PRIOR TO TAKING IT ,OOKING AT THE SAMPLE EXAM OR OTHER 4HE EXAMINATION IS DEVELOPED WITH QUESTIONS THAT
WISE USING IT TO DIRECT THEIR REVIEW WILL PRODUCE UNWAR REQUIRE A VARIETY OF APPROACHES AND METHODOLOGIES
RANTED SPECIALIZATION IN SUBJECTS CONTAINED IN THE INCLUDING DESIGN ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION 3OME
SAMPLE EXAM &OR THE SAMPLE EXAM TO BE REALISTIC PRAC QUESTIONS MAY REQUIRE KNOWLEDGE OF ENGINEERING
TICE IT NEEDS TO MIMIC AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE THE CHALLENGES ECONOMICS 4HE KNOWLEDGE AREAS SPECIFIED AS EXAM
OF THE ACTUAL EXAM PLES OF KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE ARE NOT EXCLUSIVE OR
4HERE ARE MANY WAYS TO ORGANIZE A 0% REVIEW COURSE EXHAUSTIVE CATEGORIES
DEPENDING ON YOUR AVAILABLE TIME BUDGET INTENDED !S YOU CAN SEE THERE IS NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN SUBJECTS
AUDIENCE FACILITIES AND ENTHUSIASM (OWEVER ALL GOOD IN THE MORNING AND AFTERNOON SESSIONS
COURSE FORMATS HAVE THE SAME RESULT STUDENTS STRUGGLE
WITH THE WORKLOAD DURING THE COURSE AND THEN THEY
BREEZE THROUGH THE EXAM AFTERWARD WHAT IS THE TYPICAL PROBLEM FORMAT?


!LMOST ALL OF THE PROBLEMS STAND ALONEًTHAT IS THEY

PART 3: EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED ARE COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT .#%%3 ALLOWS THAT SOME
TO KNOW ABOUT THE PE EXAM

SETS OF PROBLEMS MAY START WITH A STATEMENT OF A ّSITUA
TIONْ THAT WILL APPLY TO TYPICALLY TWO TO FIVE FOLLOWING
PROBLEMS 5SE OF SUCH GROUPED PROBLEMS IS EXPECTED TO
BE INCREASINGLY RARE HOWEVER 3INCE THE PROBLEMS ARE
WHAT IS THE FORMAT OF THE PE EXAM?
 MULTIPLE CHOICE IN DESIGN ALL REQUIRED DATA SHOULD
APPEAR IN THE SITUATION STATEMENT 6ALUES CALCULATED FOR
4HE .#%%3 0% EXAM IN ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGI ONE PROBLEM WILL NOT GENERALLY BE REQUIRED TO CORRECTLY
NEERING CONSISTS OF TWO FOUR HOUR SESSIONS SEPARATED BY A SOLVE ANOTHER PROBLEM 0ROBLEMS ARE INDEPENDENT OR
ONE HOUR LUNCH PERIOD 4HE EXAM IS AN OPEN BOOK EXAM START WITH NEW GIVEN DATA ! MISTAKE ON ONE OF THE PROB
!LL PROBLEMS ARE MULTIPLE CHOICE 5PON REGISTERING FOR LEMS SHOULDNَT CAUSE YOU TO GET A SUBSEQUENT PROBLEM
THE EXAM EXAMINEES CHOOSE TO WORK ONE OF THREE EXAM WRONG (OWEVER CONSIDERABLE TIME MAY BE REQUIRED TO
MODULES  #OMPUTER %NGINEERING  %LECTRONICS REPEAT PREVIOUS CALCULATIONS WITH A NEW SET OF GIVEN
#ONTROLS AND #OMMUNICATONS OR  0OWER %ACH DATA 3OME PROBLEM STATEMENTS MAY CONTAIN SUPERFLU
EXAM CONSISTS OF  PROBLEMS  IN THE MORNING AND  OUS INFORMATION DATA NOT RELEVANT TO SOLVING THE
IN THE AFTERNOON THAT TEST KNOWLEDGE IN THE AREAS SPECI PROBLEM 
FIED %XAMINEES MUST WORK ALL  PROBLEMS IN THE EXAM
OF THEIR CHOICE %ACH PROBLEM WILL HAVE FOUR ANSWER CHOICES LABELED ّ!ْ
ّ"ْ ّ#ْ AND ّ$ْ /NE OF THE ANSWER CHOICES IS CORRECT
&OR MORE INFORMATION ON .#%%3 AND THE EXAMS NECES OR ّMOST NEARLY CORRECTْ AS DESCRIBED IN THE FOLLOWING
SARY TO BECOME A LICENSED ELECTRICAL ENGINEER REFER TO SECTION  4HE REMAINING ANSWER CHOICES ARE INCORRECT
#HAP  %NGINEERING ,ICENSING IN THE 5NITED 3TATES AND MAY BE LOGICAL DISTRACTORS EG PLAUSIBLE ANSWERS
OR THE RESULTS OF COMMON MISCALCULATIONS 

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m
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lxxv

Table 8 Typical PE Review Course Format

LESSON SUBJECT RELEVANT CHAPTER
 )NTRODUCTION 0% %XAM -ATHEMATICS 0ROFESSIONAL 0RACTICE )NTRODUCTION ‫ي ي‬
 "ASIC 4HEORY AND &IELD 4HEORY   
 ,INEAR #IRCUIT 4HEORY   
 %LECTRONICS &UNDAMENTALS 
 *UNCTION 4RANSISTORS 
 &IELD %FFECT 4RANSISTORS 
 %LECTRICAL AND %LECTRONIC $EVICES 
 &REQUENCY 2ESPONSE 
 $IGITAL ,OGIC 
 ,OGIC .ETWORK $ESIGN 
 3YNCHRONOUS 3EQUENTIAL .ETWORKS 
 $IGITAL 3YSTEMS  
 #ONTROLS 
 #OMMUNICATIONS   

HOW MUCH “LOOK UP IS REQUIRED” ON EXAM 9OU SHOULD USE GOOD ENGINEERING JUDGMENT
THE EXAM?

WHEN SELECTING YOUR CHOICE OF ANSWER &OR EXAMPLE
IF THE QUESTION ASKS YOU TO CALCULATE AN ELECTRICAL
3INCE THE PROBLEMS ARE MULTIPLE CHOICE IN DESIGN ALL CURRENT OR DETERMINE THE LOAD ON A BEAM YOU
REQUIRED DATA WILL APPEAR IN THE SITUATION STATEMENT SHOULD LITERALLY SELECT THE ANSWER OPTION THAT IS
3INCE THE EXAM WOULD BE UNFAIR IF IT WAS POSSIBLE TO MOST NEARLY WHAT YOU CALCULATED REGARDLESS OF
ARRIVE AT AN INCORRECT ANSWER AFTER MAKING VALID ASSUMP WHETHER IT IS MORE OR LESS THAN YOUR CALCULATED
TIONS OR USING PLAUSIBLE DATA YOU WILL NOT GENERALLY BE VALUE (OWEVER IF THE QUESTION ASKS YOU TO SELECT A
REQUIRED TO COME UP WITH NUMERICAL DATA THAT MIGHT FUSE OR CIRCUIT BREAKER TO PROTECT AGAINST A CALCU
AFFECT YOUR SUCCESS ON THE PROBLEM 4HERE WILL ALSO BE LATED CURRENT OR TO SIZE A BEAM TO CARRY A LOAD YOU
SUPERFLUOUS INFORMATION IN THE MAJORITY OF PROBLEMS SHOULD SELECT AN ANSWER OPTION THAT WILL SAFELY CARRY
THE CURRENT OR LOAD 4YPICALLY THIS REQUIRES SELECT
ING A VALUE THAT IS CLOSEST TO BUT LARGER THAN THE CUR
WHAT DOES “MOST NEARLY” REALLY RENT OR LOAD
MEAN?

4HE DIFFERENCE IS SIGNIFICANT 3UPPOSE YOU ARE ASKED TO
/NE OF THE MORE DISQUIETING ASPECTS OF THESE PROBLEMS IS CALCULATE ّMOST NEARLYْ THE CURRENT DRAWN BY A GIVEN
THAT THE AVAILABLE ANSWER CHOICES ARE SELDOM EXACT ELECTRICAL LOAD 3UPPOSE ALSO THAT THE RESULT OF THE CAL
!NSWER CHOICES GENERALLY HAVE ONLY TWO OR THREE SIGNIFI CULATION IS  ! )F THE PROVIDED ANSWER CHOICES WERE
CANT DIGITS %XAM PROBLEMS ASK ّ7HICH ANSWER CHOICE !  ! "  ! #  ! AND $  ! YOU WOULD
IS MOST NEARLY THE CORRECT VALUEْ OR THEY INSTRUCT YOU TO GO WITH ANSWER CHOICE "  BECAUSE THIS IS MOST NEARLY
COMPLETE THE SENTENCE ّ4HE VALUE IS APPROXIMATELY…ْ WHAT YOU CALCULATED )F HOWEVER YOU WERE ASKED TO
! LOT OF SELF CONFIDENCE IS REQUIRED TO MOVE ON TO THE SELECT THE BREAKER THAT PROVIDES THE REQUIRED OVERCUR
NEXT PROBLEM WHEN YOU DONَT FIND AN EXACT MATCH FOR RENT PROTECTION FOR THIS LOAD YOU WOULD SELECT ANSWER
THE ANSWER YOU CALCULATED OR IF YOU HAVE HAD TO SPLIT THE CHOICE # 
DIFFERENCE BECAUSE NO AVAILABLE ANSWER CHOICE IS CLOSE
.#%%3 HAS DESCRIBED IT LIKE THIS HOW MUCH MATHEMATICS IS NEEDED FOR
THE EXAM?

-ANY OF THE QUESTIONS ON .#%%3 EXAMS REQUIRE
CALCULATIONS TO ARRIVE AT A NUMERICAL ANSWER 'ENERALLY ONLY SIMPLE ALGEBRA TRIGONOMETRY AND GEOM
$EPENDING ON THE METHOD OF CALCULATION USED IT IS ETRY ARE NEEDED ON THE 0% EXAM 9OU WILL NEED TO USE
VERY POSSIBLE THAT EXAMINEES WORKING CORRECTLY WILL THE TRIGONOMETRIC LOGARITHM SQUARE ROOT AND SIMILAR
ARRIVE AT A RANGE OF ANSWERS 4HE PHRASE ّMOST BUTTONS ON YOUR CALCULATOR 4HERE IS NO NEED TO USE ANY
NEARLYْ IS USED TO ACCOMMODATE ANSWERS THAT HAVE
BEEN DERIVED CORRECTLY BUT THAT MAY BE SLIGHTLY DIF
FERENT FROM THE CORRECT ANSWER CHOICE GIVEN ON THE

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m
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OTHER METHOD FOR THESE FUNCTIONS &OR FUNCTIONS ) RECOM WHAT ABOUT PROFESSIONALISM AND
MEND YOU PROGRAM INTO YOUR CALCULATOR SEE THE SECTION ETHICS?

ّ7HAT ABOUT %LECTRONIC $EVICESْ
&OR MANY YEARS .#%%3 HAS DISCUSSED ADDING PROFES
4HERE ARE NO PURE MATHEMATICS PROBLEMS ALGEBRA
SIONALISM AND ETHICS PROBLEMS TO THE 0% EXAM 4HESE
GEOMETRY TRIGONOMETRY ETC ON THE EXAM (OWEVER
SUBJECTS ARE NOT CURRENTLY PART OF THE SPECIFICATIONS AND
YOU WILL NEED TO APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THESE SUBJECTS
THERE HAS YET TO BE A PROBLEM ON THESE SUBJECTS IN THE
TO THE EXAM PROBLEMS %XCEPT FOR SIMPLE QUADRATIC
EXAM
EQUATIONS YOU WILL PROBABLY NOT NEED TO FIND THE ROOTS
OF HIGHER ORDER EQUATIONS /CCASIONALLY IT WILL BE CONVE
NIENT TO USE THE EQUATION SOLVING CAPABILITY OF AN IS THE EXAM TRICKY?

ADVANCED CALCULATOR (OWEVER OTHER SOLUTION METHODS
WILL ALWAYS EXIST /THER THAN PROVIDING SUPERFLUOUS DATA THE 0% EXAM IS
4HERE IS LITTLE OR NO USE OF CALCULUS ON THE EXAM 2ARELY NOT A ّTRICKY EXAMْ 4HE EXAM DOES NOT OVERTLY TRY TO
GET YOU TO FAIL %XAMINEES MANAGE TO FAIL ON A REGULAR
YOU MAY NEED TO TAKE A SIMPLE DERIVATIVE TO FIND A MAXI
BASIS WITH PERFECTLY STRAIGHTFORWARD PROBLEMS 4HE
MUM OR MINIMUM OF SOME FUNCTION %VEN RARER IS THE
EXAM PROBLEMS ARE DIFFICULT IN THEIR OWN RIGHT .#%%3
NEED TO INTEGRATE TO FIND AN AVERAGE OR MOMENT OF INER
DOES NOT NEED TO PROVIDE MISLEADING OR CONFLICTING STATE
TIA 4HERE IS ESSENTIALLY NO NEED TO SOLVE DIFFERENTIAL
MENTS (OWEVER YOU WILL FIND THAT COMMONLY MADE MIS
EQUATIONS /N THE EXAM THERE ARE SIMPLE LINEAR CIRCUITS
TAKES ARE REPRESENTED IN THE AVAILABLE ANSWER CHOICES
AND COMPONENTS THAT CAN BE SOLVED OR EXPLAINED WITH
4HUS THE ALTERNATIVE ANSWERS KNOWN AS DISTRACTORS
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS /FTEN THESE APPLICATIONS AND
WILL BE LOGICAL
OTHERS THAT USE SUCH MATHEMATICS CAN BE SOLVED BY
OTHER MEANS 0ROBLEMS ARE GENERALLY PRACTICAL DEALING WITH COMMON
AND PLAUSIBLE SITUATIONS THAT YOU MIGHT EXPERIENCE IN
"ASIC STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF OBSERVED DATA MAY BE NECES
YOUR JOB #IRCUIT DESIGN IS RESTRICTED TO CONNECTING ELEC
SARY 3TATISTICAL CALCULATIONS ARE GENERALLY LIMITED TO
FINDING MEANS MEDIANS STANDARD DEVIATIONS VARIANCES TRICAL COMPONENTS TO CREATE A DESIRED OUTCOME 9OU WILL
NOT BE ASKED TO DESIGN A NEW )# CHIP OR BUILD AN EQUIVA
PERCENTILES AND CONFIDENCE LIMITS 4HE ONLY POPULATION
LENT VACUUM TUBE CIRCUIT
DISTRIBUTION YOU NEED TO BE FAMILIAR WITH IS THE NORMAL
CURVE 0ROBABILITY RELIABILITY HYPOTHESIS TESTING AND
STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL ARE NOT EXPLICIT EXAM SUBJECTS WHAT MAKES THE PROBLEMS DIFFICULT?

4HE 0% %LECTRICAL AND #OMPUTER EXAM IS CONCERNED
WITH NUMERICAL ANSWERS NOT WITH PROOFS OR DERIVATIONS 0ROBLEMS CAN BE DIFFICULT FOR ANY NUMBER OF REASONS THE
9OU WILL NOT BE ASKED TO PROVE OR DERIVE FORMULAS MOST COMMON BEING A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE IN A GIVEN AREA

/CCASIONALLY A CALCULATION MAY REQUIRE AN ITERATIVE "EYOND THAT FUNDAMENTAL CAUSE SOME PROBLEMS ARE DIF
SOLUTION METHOD 'ENERALLY THERE IS NO NEED TO COMPLETE FICULT BECAUSE THE PERTINENT THEORY IS NOT OBVIOUS !LSO
MORE THAN TWO ITERATIONS 9OU WILL NOT NEED TO PROGRAM DATA NEEDED MAY BE HARD TO FIND &OR EXAMPLE BUILDING
YOUR CALCULATOR TO OBTAIN AN ّEXACTْ ANSWER .OR WILL REQUIREMENTS ARE IN THE .ATIONAL %LECTRICAL #ODE WITH
YOU GENERALLY NEED TO USE COMPLEX NUMERICAL METHODS OUT THE CODE AND KNOWLEDGE OF WHERE GIVEN INFORMATION
IS LOCATED WITHIN THE CODE CERTAIN PROBLEMS WILL BE
NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO SOLVE
HOW ABOUT ENGINEERING ECONOMICS?

3OME PROBLEMS ARE DIFFICULT BECAUSE THEY DEFY IMAGINA
TION &OR EXAMPLE PROBLEMS PERTAINING TO THE THEORET
&OR MOST OF THE EARLY YEARS OF ENGINEERING LICENSING
ICAL FUNCTIONING OF CERTAIN ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS ARE
PROBLEMS ON ENGINEERING ECONOMICS APPEARED FREQUENTLY
MORE EASILY SOLVED IF THE PHYSICAL LAYOUT OF THE COMPO
ON THE EXAMS 4HIS IS NO LONGER THE CASE (OWEVER IN ITS
NENT CAN BE VISUALIZED 3OME PROBLEMS ARE DIFFICULT
OUTLINE OF EXAM SUBJECTS .#%%3 NOTES ّ3OME PROBLEMS
MAY REQUIRE KNOWLEDGE OF ENGINEERING ECONOMICSْ 7HAT BECAUSE THE COMPUTATIONAL TIME IS LENGTHY 3OME PROB
LEMS ARE DIFFICULT BECAUSE THE TERMINOLOGY IS OBSCURE
THIS MEANS IS THAT ENGINEERING ECONOMICS CAN CONSTITUTE
4HIS CAN OCCUR IN ALMOST ANY SUBJECT
ANYTHING FROM NOTHING TO SEVERAL PROBLEMS ON THE EXAM
7HILE THE DEGREE OF REQUIRED ENGINEERING ECONOMICS
KNOWLEDGE MAY HAVE DECREASED SOMEWHAT THE BASIC ECO DOES THE PE EXAM USE SI UNITS?

NOMIC CONCEPTS EG TIME VALUE OF MONEY PRESENT
WORTH NON ANNUAL COMPOUNDING COMPARISON OF ALTERNA 4HE 0% EXAM PRIMARILY USES THE 3) SYSTEM ! FEW TOPICS
TIVES ETC ARE STILL VALID TEST SUBJECTS UTILIZE THE CUSTOMARY 53 SYSTEM WHERE THEY CORRE
SPOND TO COMMONLY ACCEPTED INDUSTRY STANDARDS 4HE
EXAMPLE THAT COMES TO MIND IS PROBLEMS INVOLVING THE
.ATIONAL %LECTRICAL #ODE WHERE UNTIL RECENTLY MOST

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m
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UNITS WERE GIVEN IN CUSTOMARY 53 UNITS WITH 3) PRO WHAT REFERENCE MATERIAL IS
VIDED IN PARENTHESIS %VEN IN THIS TOPIC 3) IS NOW FORE PERMITTED IN THE EXAM?

MOST AND CUSTOMARY 53 UNITS ARE NOW IN PARENTHESES
4HE 0% EXAM IS AN OPEN BOOK EXAM -OST STATES DO NOT
HAVE ANY LIMITS ON THE NUMBERS AND TYPES OF BOOKS YOU
WHY DOES NCEES REUSE SOME CAN USE 0ERSONAL NOTES IN A THREE RING BINDER AND OTHER
PROBLEMS?
 SEMIPERMANENT COVERS CAN USUALLY BE USED 9OU CANNOT
SHARE BOOKS WITH OTHER EXAMINEES DURING THE EXAM
.#%%3 REUSES SOME OF THE MORE RELIABLE PROBLEMS FROM
EACH EXAM 4HE PERCENTAGE OF REPEAT PROBLEMS ISNَT 3OME STATES USE A ّSHAKE TESTْ TO ELIMINATE LOOSE PAPERS
HIGHًNO MORE THAN  OF THE EXAM .#%%3 REPEATS FROM BINDERS -AKE SURE THAT NOTHING ESCAPES FROM YOUR
PROBLEMS IN ORDER TO EQUATE THE PERFORMANCE OF ONE BINDERS WHEN THEY ARE INVERTED AND SHAKEN
GROUP OF EXAMINEES WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF AN EARLIER
! FEW STATES DO NOT PERMIT COLLECTIONS OF SOLVED PROB
GROUP 4HE REPEATED PROBLEMS ARE KNOWN AS EQUATERS LEMS SUCH AS 3CHAUMӲS /UTLINE 3ERIES SAMPLE EXAMS
/CCASIONALLY A NEW PROBLEM APPEARS ON THE EXAM THAT AND SOLUTIONS MANUALS 3OME STATES MAINTAIN A FORMAL
VERY FEW OF THE EXAMINEES DO WELL ON 5SUALLY THE REASON LIST OF BANNED BOOKS
FOR THIS IS THAT THE SUBJECT IS TOO OBSCURE OR TOO DIFFICULT
3TRICTLY SPEAKING LOOSE PAPER AND SCRATCH PADS ARE NOT
!LSO THERE HAVE BEEN CASES WHERE A LOW PERCENTAGE OF
PERMITTED IN THE EXAM #ERTAIN TYPES OF PREPRINTED
THE EXAMINEES GET THE ANSWER CORRECT BECAUSE THE PROB
GRAPHS AND LOGARITHMICALLY SCALED GRAPH PAPERS MAY BE
LEM WAS INADVERTENTLY STATED IN A POOR OR CONFUSING
USED BUT ARE ALMOST NEVER NEEDED )F YOU CHOOSE TO USE
MANNER 4HESE AS WELL AS QUESTIONS THAT EVERYONE GETS
THESE PAPERS THEY SHOULD BE THREE HOLE PUNCHED AND
CORRECT ARE CONSIDERED DEFECTIVE AND ARE GENERALLY
BROUGHT IN A THREE RING BINDER !N EXCEPTION TO THIS
REMOVED FROM THE EXAM SCORING PROCESS
RESTRICTION MAY BE MADE FOR LAMINATED AND OVERSIZE
.#%%3 TRACKS THE USAGE AND ّSUCCESSْ OF EACH OF THE CHARTS GRAPHS AND TABLES THAT ARE COMMONLY NEEDED FOR
EXAM PROBLEMS 3UCH ّROGUEْ PROBLEMS ARE NOT REPEATED PARTICULAR TYPES OF PROBLEMS
WITHOUT MODIFICATION 4HIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS HISTORI
CAL ANALYSIS OF PROBLEM TYPES SHOULDNَT BE USED AS THE
HOW MANY BOOKS SHOULD YOU BRING?
BASIS OF YOUR REVIEW 

9OU WONَT USE MANY BOOKS IN THE EXAM 4HE TROUBLE IS

DOES NCEES USE THE EXAM TO PRE-TEST YOU CANَT KNOW IN ADVANCE WHICH ONES YOU WILL NEED
FUTURE PROBLEMS?

WHICH IS WHY MANY EXAMINEES SHOW UP WITH BOXES AND
BOXES OF BOOKS 7ITHOUT A DOUBT THERE ARE THINGS THAT
.#%%3 DOES NOT USE THE 0% EXAM TO ّPRE TESTْ OR QUAL YOU WILL NEED THAT ARE NOT IN THE %LECTRONICS #ONTROLS
IFY FUTURE PROBLEMS )T DOES USE THIS PROCEDURE ON THE AND #OMMUNICATIONS 2EFERENCE -ANUAL "UT THERE ARE
&% EXAM HOWEVER !LL OF THE PROBLEMS YOU WORK WILL NOT SO MANY OF THESE OMISSIONS THAT YOU NEED TO BRING
CONTRIBUTE TOWARD YOUR FINAL SCORE UNLESS A PROBLEM IS YOUR COMPANYَS ENTIRE LIBRARY 4HE EXAM IS VERY FAST
DEEMED DEFECTIVE  PACED 9OU WILL NOT HAVE TIME TO USE BOOKS WITH WHICH
YOU ARE NOT THOROUGHLY FAMILIAR 4HE EXAM DOESNَT
REQUIRE YOU TO KNOW OBSCURE SOLUTION METHODS OR TO USE
ARE THE EXAMPLE PROBLEMS IN THIS DIFFICULT TO FIND DATA
BOOK REPRESENTATIVE OF THE EXAM?

)T REALLY IS UNNECESSARY TO BRING A LARGE QUANTITY OF
4HE PRACTICE PROBLEMS IN THE COMPANION BOOK %LECTRON BOOKS WITH YOU %SSENTIAL BOOKS ARE IDENTIFIED IN THE
ICS #ONTROLS AND #OMMUNICATIONS 0RACTICE 0ROBLEMS #ODES AND 2EFERENCES SECTION IN THIS TEXT AND YOU
COVER EXAM SUBJECTS 4HE EXAMPLE PROBLEMS AND PRAC SHOULD BE ABLE TO DECIDE WHICH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT YOU
TICE PROBLEMS ARE MEANT TO SPAN THE REALM FROM SIMPLE NEED FOR THE AREAS THAT GIVE YOU THE MOST TROUBLE 4HIS
TO COMPLEX THAT IS FROM REVIEW MATERIAL TO DESIGN COM BOOK AND FIVE TO TEN OTHER REFERENCES OF YOUR CHOICE
PETENCY TO ALLOW FOR BETTER PREPARATION 4HE SAMPLE SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT FOR MOST OF THE PROBLEMS YOU
EXAMINATION QUESTIONS ATTEMPT TO MIMIC THE 0% EXAM ENCOUNTER
WITH ROUGHLY A SIX MINUTE TIME FRAME ALLOTTED FOR THE
SOLUTION OF EACH PROBLEM
MAY TABS BE PLACED ON PAGES?


)T IS COMMON TO TAB PAGES IN YOUR BOOKS IN AN EFFORT TO

REDUCE THE TIME REQUIRED TO LOCATE USEFUL SECTIONS )NAS
MUCH AS SOME STATES CONSIDER 0OST IT NOTES TO BE ّLOOSE
PAPERْ YOUR TABS SHOULD BE OF THE MORE PERMANENT VARI
ETY !LTHOUGH YOU CAN PURCHASE TABS WITH GUMMED

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m
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xxviiil E L E C T R O N I C S , C O N T R O L S & C O M M U N I C A T I O N S R E F E R E N C E M A N U A L

ATTACHMENT POINTS IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE SIMPLY TO USE • LINEAR REGRESSION

TRANSPARENT TAPE TO ATTACH THE 0OST ITS YOU HAVE ALREADY
PLACED IN YOUR BOOKS • CALCULATING FACTORS FOR ECONOMIC ANALYSIS PROBLEMS

9OU MAY NOT SHARE CALCULATORS WITH OTHER EXAMINEES "E

ARE CELL PHONES PERMITTED?

SURE TO TAKE YOUR CALCULATOR WITH YOU WHENEVER YOU
LEAVE THE EXAM ROOM FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME
9OU MAY NOT POSSESS OR USE A WALKIE TALKIE CELL
,APTOP COMPUTERS ARE GENERALLY NOT PERMITTED IN THE
PHONE SMARTPHONE OR OTHER COMMUNICATIONS OR
EXAM 4HEIR USE HAS BEEN CONSIDERED AND SOME STATES
TEXT MESSAGING DEVICE DURING THE EXAM REGARDLESS OF
MAY ACTUALLY PERMIT THEM (OWEVER CONSIDERING THE
WHETHER IT IS ON 9OU WONَT BE FRISKED UPON ENTRANCE
NATURE OF THE EXAM PROBLEMS IT IS VERY UNLIKELY THAT LAP
TO THE EXAM BUT SHOULD A PROCTOR DISCOVER THAT YOU
TOPS WOULD PROVIDE ANY ADVANTAGE
ARE IN POSSESSION OF A COMMUNICATION DEVICE YOU
SHOULD EXPECT TO BE POLITELY EXCLUDED FROM THE
REMAINDER OF THE EXAMINATION HOW IS THE EXAM GRADED AND SCORED?


WHAT ABOUT OTHER ELECTRONIC 4HE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF POINTS YOU CAN EARN ON THE 0%
%LECTRICAL AND #OMPUTER EXAM IS  4HE MINIMUM
DEVICES?

NUMBER OF POINTS FOR PASSING KNOWN AS ّTHE CUT SCOREْ
BY .#%%3 VARIES FROM ONE EXAM ADMINISTRATION TO
4HE EXAM REQUIRES USE OF A SCIENTIFIC CALCULATOR (OW
ANOTHER 4HE CUT SCORE IS DETERMINED THROUGH A RATIONAL
EVER IT MAY NOT BE OBVIOUS THAT YOU SHOULD BRING A
PROCEDURE WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF KNOWING EXAMINEESَ
SPARE CALCULATOR WITH YOU TO THE EXAM )T IS ALWAYS
PERFORMANCE ON THE EXAM 4HAT IS THE EXAM IS NOT
UNFORTUNATE WHEN AN EXAMINEE IS NOT ABLE TO FINISH
GRADED ON A CURVE 4HE CUT SCORE IS SELECTED BASED ON
BECAUSE HIS OR HER CALCULATOR WAS DROPPED OR STOLEN OR
WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO KNOW NOT BASED ON PASSING A
STOPPED WORKING FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON
CERTAIN PERCENTAGE OF ENGINEERS
.#%%3 HAS BANNED COMMUNICATING AND TEXT EDITING
%ACH OF THE PROBLEMS IS WORTH ONE POINT 'RADING IS
CALCULATORS FROM THE EXAM SITE /NLY SELECT TYPES OF CAL
STRAIGHTFORWARD SINCE A COMPUTER GRADES YOUR SCORE
CULATORS ARE PERMITTED #HECK THE CURRENT LIST OF PERMIS
SHEET %ITHER YOU GET THE PROBLEM RIGHT OR YOU DONَT
SIBLE DEVICES AT THE 00) WEBSITE PPIPASSCOM 
4HERE IS NO DEDUCTION FOR INCORRECT ANSWERS SO GUESSING
.OMOGRAPHS AND SPECIALTY SLIDE RULES ARE PERMITTED
IS ENCOURAGED (OWEVER IF YOU MARK TWO OR MORE
)T IS ESSENTIAL THAT A CALCULATOR USED FOR THE 0% EXAM ANSWERS FOR THE SAME PROBLEM NO CREDIT IS GIVEN FOR THE
HAVE THE FOLLOWING FUNCTIONS PROBLEM

• TRIGONOMETRIC AND INVERSE TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS 9OU WILL RECEIVE THE RESULTS OF YOUR EXAM FROM YOUR STATE
BOARD NOT .#%%3 BY MAIL !LLOW AT LEAST FOUR MONTHS
• HYPERBOLIC AND INVERSE HYPERBOLIC FUNCTIONS FOR NOTIFICATION 9OUR SCORE MAY OR MAY NOT BE REVEALED
TO YOU DEPENDING ON YOUR STATEَS PROCEDURE %VEN WHEN
• π THE SCORE IS REPORTED TO YOU IT MAY HAVE BEEN SCALED OR
• x AND X NORMALIZED TO A PORTION OF 

• BOTH COMMON AND NATURAL LOGARITHMS

HOW YOU SHOULD GUESS

• y x AND EX
.#%%3 PRODUCES DEFENSIBLE LICENSING EXAMS !S A
&OR MAXIMUM SPEED AND UTILITY YOUR CALCULATOR SHOULD RESULT THERE IS NO PATTERN TO THE PLACEMENT OF CORRECT
ALSO HAVE OR BE PROGRAMMED FOR THE FOLLOWING FUNCTIONS RESPONSES 4HEREFORE IT MOST LIKELY WILL NOT HELP YOU TO
GUESS ALL ّ!ْ ّ"ْ ّ#ْ OR ّ$ْ
• CONVERTING BETWEEN POLAR PHASOR AND RECTANGULAR
4HE PROPER WAY TO GUESS IS AS AN ENGINEER 9OU SHOULD
VECTORS
USE YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE SUBJECT TO ELIMINATE ILLOGICAL
• PERFORMING SIMULTANEOUS LINEAR EQUATIONS ANSWER CHOICES )LLOGICAL ANSWER CHOICES ARE THOSE THAT
VIOLATE GOOD ENGINEERING PRINCIPLES THAT ARE OUTSIDE NOR
• PERFORMING RMS CALCULATIONS MAL OPERATING RANGES OR THAT REQUIRE EXTRAORDINARY
• SIMPLIFYING 3MITH CHART CALCULATIONS ASSUMPTIONS /F COURSE THIS REQUIRES YOU TO HAVE SOME
BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE SUBJECT IN THE FIRST PLACE
• CALCULATING FACTORS FOR ECONOMIC ANALYSIS PROBLEMS /THERWISE ITَS BACK TO RANDOM GUESSING 4HATَS THE REA
SON THAT THE MINIMUM PASSING SCORE IS HIGHER THAN 
• CALCULATING DETERMINANTS OF MATRICES
9OU WONَT GET ANY POINTS USING THE ّTEST TAKING SKILLSْ
THAT HELPED YOU IN COLLEGEًTHE SKILLS THAT HELPED WITH
TESTS PREPARED BY SUBJECT EXPERTS RATHER THAN TESTING

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m
 I N T R O D U C T I O N xxix
lxxix

EXPERTS 9OU WONَT BE ABLE TO ELIMINATE ANY ;VERB= .#%%3 REGULARLY REUSES ّGOODْ PROBLEMS THAT HAVE
ANSWER CHOICES FROM ّ7HICH ;NOUN= …ْ PROBLEMS 9OU APPEARED ON PREVIOUS EXAMS 4HEREFORE EXAM SECURITY
WONَT FIND PROBLEMS WITH OPTIONS OF THE ّMORE THAN ْ IS A SERIOUS ISSUE WITH .#%%3 WHICH GOES TO GREAT
AND ّLESS THAN ْ VARIETY 9OU WONَT FIND ONE ANSWER LENGTHS TO MAKE SURE NOBODY COPIES THE PROBLEMS 9OU
CHOICE AMONG THE FOUR THAT HAS A DIFFERENT NUMBER OF SIG MAY NOT KEEP YOUR EXAM BOOKLET ENTER THE TEXT OF PROB
NIFICANT DIGITS OR HAS A VERB IN A DIFFERENT TENSE OR HAS LEMS INTO YOUR CALCULATOR OR COPY PROBLEMS INTO YOUR
SOME SINGULARPLURAL DISCREPANCY WITH THE STEM 4HE OWN MATERIAL
DISTRACTORS WILL ALWAYS MATCH THE STEM AND THEY WILL BE
4HE PROCTORS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT EXAM SUBVERSION
LOGICAL
WHICH GENERALLY MEANS ACTIVITY THAT MIGHT INVALIDATE
THE EXAM OR THE EXAM PROCESS 4HE MOST COMMON FORM
WHAT IS THE PASSING RATE?

OF EXAM SUBVERSION INVOLVES TRYING TO COPY EXAM PROB
LEMS FOR FUTURE USE
.#%%3 CITES THE PASSING RATE FOR FIRST TIME EXAMINEES .#%%3 HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY UNFORGIVING ABOUT LOSS
AS BEING  4HE RATE FOR FIRST TIME EXAMINEES DIFFERS
OF ITS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY .#%%3 ROUTINELY PROSECUTES
FROM REPEAT EXAMINEES 4HE RATE FROM ONE EXAM TO THE
VIOLATORS AND SEEKS ࢺNANCIAL REDRESS FOR LOSS OF ITS EXAMI
NEXT DIFFERS "ECAUSE OF THE VARIABILITY AND BECAUSE OF
NATION PROBLEMS AS WELL AS INVALIDATING ANY ENGINEERING
PERIODIC EXAM FORMAT CHANGES HISTORICAL PASSING RATES
LICENSE YOU MAY HAVE EARNED BY TAKING ONE OF ITS EXAMI
ARE ESSENTIALLY IRRELEVANT 4HE MOST IMPORTANT CONSIDER
NATIONS WHILE ENGAGING IN PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES 9OUR
ATIONS DETERMINING YOUR PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS ARE PRE
STATE BOARD MAY IMPOSE ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS ON YOUR
PAREDNESS PROBLEM SOLVING ABILITY EXPERIENCE AND
RIGHT TO RETAKE ANY EXAMINATION IF YOU ARE CONVICTED OF
KNOWLEDGE OF THE FUNDAMENTALS
SUCH ACTIVITIES )N ADDITION TO TRACKING DOWN THE SOURCES
OF ANY EXAMINATION PROBLEM COMPILATIONS THAT IT
HOW IS THE CUT SCORE ESTABLISHED? BECOMES AWARE OF .#%%3 IS ALSO AGGRESSIVE IN PURSUING

AND PROSECUTING EXAMINEES WHO DISCLOSE THE CONTENTS OF
4HE RAW CUT SCORE MAY BE ESTABLISHED BY .#%%3 BEFORE THE EXAM IN INTERNET FORUM AND ّCHATْ ENVIRONMENTS
THE EXAM IS ADMINISTERED OR AFTER &INAL ADJUSTMENTS 9OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS TO FREE SPEECH AND EXPRESSION
MAY BE MADE FOLLOWING THE EXAM DATE WILL NOT PROTECT YOU FROM CIVIL PROSECUTION FOR VIOLATING
THE NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT THAT .#%%3 REQUIRES YOU
.#%%3 USES A PROCESS KNOWN AS THE MODIFIED !NGOFF TO SIGN BEFORE TAKING THE EXAMINATION )F YOU WISH TO
PROCEDURE TO ESTABLISH THE CUT SCORE 4HIS PROCEDURE PARTICIPATE IN A DIALOG ABOUT A PARTICULAR EXAM SUBJECT
STARTS WITH A SMALL GROUP THE CUT SCORE PANEL OF PROFES YOU MUST DO SO IN SUCH A MANNER THAT DOES NOT VIOLATE
SIONAL ENGINEERS SELECTED BY .#%%3 %ACH INDIVIDUAL IN THE ESSENCE OF YOUR NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT 4HIS
THE GROUP REVIEWS EACH PROBLEM AND ESTIMATES ITS DIFFI REQUIRES DECOUPLING YOUR DISCUSSION FROM THE EXAMINA
CULTY BY GIVING THEIR OPINION OF THE NUMBER OF MINIMALLY TION AND REFRAMING THE PROBLEM TO AVOID ANY EXAMINA
QUALIFIED ENGINEERS OUT OF A HUNDRED EXAMINEES WHO TION PARTICULARS
SHOULD KNOW THE CORRECT ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM 4HIS IS
EQUIVALENT TO PREDICTING THE PERCENTAGE OF MINIMALLY
QUALIFIED ENGINEERS WHO WILL ANSWER CORRECTLY PART 4: HOW TO PREPARE FOR AND PASS
THE PE ELECTRONICS, CONTROLS, AND
.EXT THE PANEL ASSEMBLES AND THE ESTIMATES FOR EACH COMMUNICATIONS EXAM

PROBLEM ARE OPENLY COMPARED AND DISCUSSED %VENTU
ALLY A CONSENSUS VALUE IS OBTAINED FOR EACH 7HEN THE
PANEL HAS ESTABLISHED A CONSENSUS VALUE FOR EVERY PROB
LEM THE VALUES ARE SUMMED AND DIVIDED BY  TO ESTAB WHAT SHOULD YOU STUDY?

LISH THE CUT SCORE
3TRICTLY SPEAKING YOU DONَT HAVE TO STUDY EVERY SUBJECT
6ARIOUS MINOR ADJUSTMENTS CAN BE MADE AFTER THE EXAM
ON THE EXAM IN ORDER TO PASS (OWEVER THE MORE SUB
IS ADMINISTERED TO ACCOUNT FOR EXAMINEE POPULATION AS JECTS YOU STUDY THE MORE YOUَLL IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF
CHARACTERIZED BY THE AVERAGE PERFORMANCE ON EQUATER
PASSING 9OU SHOULD USE 4ABLE  THE 3CHEDULE FOR 3ELF
PROBLEMS AND ANY FLAWED PROBLEMS
3TUDY TO HELP YOU PLAN WHICH SUBJECTS YOU ARE GOING TO
STUDY AND WHEN )T IS BEST TO DECIDE EARLY IN THE PREPA
CHEATING AND EXAM SUBVERSION RATION PROCESS 4HE STRATEGY YOU USE WILL DEPEND ON

YOUR BACKGROUND
4HERE ARENَT VERY MANY WAYS TO CHEAT ON AN OPEN BOOK -ANY SUCCESSFUL EXAMINEES CAN ATTEST THAT TAKING THE
TEST 4HE PROCTORS ARE WELL TRAINED IN SPOTTING THE FEW BROAD APPROACH TO STUDYING WAS THEIR KEY TO PASSING THE
WAYS THAT DO EXIST 9OU SHOULD NOT TALK TO OTHER EXAMIN EXAM 4HIS STRATEGY IS TO REVIEW THE FUNDAMENTALS IN A
EES IN THE ROOM NOR SHOULD YOU PASS NOTES BACK AND BROAD RANGE OF UNDERGRADUATE SUBJECTS WHICH MEANS
FORTH 4HE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE RELEASED TO USE THE STUDYING ALL OR MOST OF THE CHAPTERS IN THIS BOOK  4HE
RESTROOM MAY BE LIMITED TO PREVENT DISCUSSIONS

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m
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xxxl E L E C T R O N I C S , C O N T R O L S & C O M M U N I C A T I O N S R E F E R E N C E M A N U A L

EXAM INCLUDES ENOUGH FUNDAMENTALS PROBLEMS TO MAKE WHAT THE WELL-HEELED ELECTRICAL
THIS STRATEGY WORTHWHILE /VERALL ITَS THE BEST ENGINEER SHOULD BEGIN ACCUMULATING

APPROACH
7HILE THE %LECTRONICS #ONTROLS AND #OMMUNICATIONS
0RACTICING ENGINEERS WHO HAVE LITTLE TIME FOR PREPARA
2EFERENCE -ANUAL OFFERS A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF
TION OFTEN CONCENTRATE ON THE SUBJECT AREAS IN WHICH
EXAM SUBJECTS THERE ARE MANY REFERENCES AND RESOURCES
THEY HOPE TO FIND THE MOST PROBLEMS "Y STUDYING THE
THAT YOU SHOULD BEGIN TO ASSEMBLE FOR REVIEW AND FOR USE
LIST OF EXAM SUBJECTS SOME HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FOCUS ON
IN THE EXAM
THOSE SUBJECTS THAT WILL GIVE THEM THE HIGHEST PROBABIL
ITY OF FINDING ENOUGH PROBLEMS THAT THEY CAN ANSWER )T IS UNLIKELY THAT YOU COULD PASS THE 0% EXAM WITHOUT
4HIS STRATEGY WORKS AS LONG AS THE EXAM COOPERATES AND ACCUMULATING OTHER BOOKS AND RESOURCES 4HERE CER
SUPPLIES ENOUGH OF THE TYPES OF PROBLEMS THEY NEED 4OO TAINLY ISNَT MUCH MARGIN FOR ERROR IF YOU SHOW UP WITH
OFTEN THOUGH EXAMINEES WHO PICK AND CHOOSE SUBJECTS ONLY ONE BOOK 4HERE ARE MANY PROBLEMS THAT REQUIRE
TO REVIEW CANَT FIND ENOUGH WORKABLE PROBLEMS TO ENSURE KNOWLEDGE DATA AND EXPERIENCE THAT ARE PRESENTED AND
THEY PASS THE EXAM DESCRIBED ONLY IN BOOKS DEDICATED TO A SINGLE SUBJECT
9OU WOULD HAVE TO BE TRULY LUCKY TO GO IN ّBAREْ FIND
THE RIGHT MIX OF PROBLEMS AND PASS
DO YOU NEED A CLASSROOM REVIEW
COURSE?

&EW EXAMINEES ARE ABLE TO ACCUMULATE ALL OF THE REFEREN
CES NEEDED TO SUPPORT THE EXAMَS ENTIRE BODY OF KNOWL
!PPROXIMATELY  OF FIRST TIME 0% EXAMINEES TAKE A EDGE 4HE ACCUMULATION PROCESS IS TOO EXPENSIVE AND
REVIEW COURSE OF SOME FORM #LASSROOM AUDIO VIDEO TIME CONSUMING AND THE SOURCES ARE TOO DIVERSE ,IKE
CORRESPONDENCE AND INTERNET COURSES ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASING AN INSURANCE POLICY WHAT YOU END UP WITH
SOME OR ALL OF THE EXAM TOPICS #OURSES PROVIDE SEVERAL WILL BE MORE A FUNCTION OF YOUR BUDGET THAN OF YOUR
SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES OVER SELF DIRECTED STUDY SOME OF NEEDS )N SOME CASES ONE BOOK WILL SATISFY SEVERAL NEEDS
WHICH MAY APPLY TO YOU
4HE BOOKS AND OTHER ITEMS LISTED IN THE #ODES AND
2EFERENCES SECTION OF THIS BOOK ARE REGULARLY CITED BY
• ! COURSE STRUCTURES AND PACES YOUR REVIEW )T ENSURES
EXAMINEES AS HAVING BEEN PARTICULARLY USEFUL TO THEM
THAT YOU KEEP GOING FORWARD WITHOUT GETTING BOGGED
4HIS LISTING ONLY INCLUDES THE MAJOR ّNAMEDْ BOOKS THAT
DOWN IN ONE SUBJECT HAVE BECOME STANDARD REFERENCES IN THE INDUSTRY 4HESE
• ! COURSE FOCUSES YOU ON A LIMITED AMOUNT OF MATE BOOKS ARE IN ADDITION TO ANY TEXTBOOKS OR RESOURCES THAT
RIAL 7ITHOUT A COURSE YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW WHICH YOU MIGHT CHOOSE TO BRING
SUBJECTS TO STUDY
• ! COURSE PROVIDES YOU WITH THE PROBLEMS YOU NEED TO ADDITIONAL REVIEW MATERIAL

SOLVE 9OU WILL NOT HAVE TO SPEND TIME LOOKING FOR
THEM )N ADDITION TO THIS BOOK AND ITS ACCOMPANYING %LECTRON
ICS #ONTROLS AND #OMMUNICATIONS 0RACTICE 0ROBLEMS
• 4HE COURSE INSTRUCTOR CAN ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS 00) CAN PROVIDE YOU WITH MANY TARGETED REFERENCES AND
WHEN YOU ARE STUCK STUDY AIDS SOME OF WHICH ARE LISTED HERE

• %LECTRONICS #ONTROLS AND #OMMUNICATIONS 0RACTICE

HOW LONG SHOULD YOU STUDY?

%XAM
7EَVE ALL HEARD STORIES OF THE PERSON WHO DIDNَT CRACK A • 0% %LECTRICAL %LECTRONICS #ONTROLS AND #OMMUNI
BOOK UNTIL THE WEEK BEFORE THE EXAM AND STILL PASSED IT CATIONS 0REP #OURSE
WITH FLYING COLORS 9ES THESE PEOPLE REALLY EXIST (OW
EVER )َM NOT ONE OF THEM AND YOU PROBABLY ARENَT • %NGINEERING 5NIT #ONVERSIONS
EITHER )N FACT AFTER HAVING TAUGHT ENGINEERS IN MY OWN
CLASSES )َM CONVINCED THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE AS RARE AS &OR A COMPLETE LISTING OF AVAILABLE SAMPLE PROBLEMS
THE ONES WHO HAVE TAKEN THE EXAM FIVE TIMES AND STILL OTHER BOOKS CALCULATOR SOFTWARE VIDEOS AND OTHER EXAM
CANَT PASS IT RELATED PRODUCTS GO TO 00)َS WEBSITE AT PPIPASSCOM
! THOROUGH REVIEW TAKES APPROXIMATELY  HOURS -OST
OF THIS TIME IS SPENT SOLVING PROBLEMS 3OME OF IT MAY BE SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR OLD EXAMS?

SPENT IN CLASS SOME IS SPENT AT HOME 3OME EXAMINEES
SPREAD THIS TIME OVER A YEAR /THERS CRAM IT ALL INTO TWO 4HE TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO PREPARING FOR STANDARDIZED
MONTHS -OST CLASSROOM REVIEW COURSES LAST FOR THREE OR TESTS INCLUDES WORKING SAMPLE TESTS (OWEVER .#%%3 DOES
FOUR MONTHS 4HE BEST TIME TO START STUDYING WILL NOT RELEASE OLD TESTS OR PROBLEMS AFTER THEY ARE USED 4HERE
DEPEND ON HOW MUCH TIME YOU CAN AFFORD TO SPEND ON FORE THERE ARE NO OFFICIAL PROBLEMS OR TESTS AVAILABLE FROM
EXAM PREPARATION EACH WEEK LEGITIMATE SOURCES .#%%3 HAS PUBLISHED A BOOKLET OF
SAMPLE PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS TO ILLUSTRATE THE FORMAT OF

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m
 I N T R O D U C T I O N xxxi
lxxxi

THE EXAM 4HESE PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN ASSEMBLED FROM VARI WHAT TO DO A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE
OUS PREVIOUS EXAMS AND THE PUBLICATION IS NOT A TRUE ّOLD EXAM

EXAMْ
4HERE ARE A FEW THINGS YOU SHOULD DO A WEEK OR SO BEFORE
THE EXAM )F NECESSARY YOU SHOULD ARRANGE FOR CHILDCARE
WHAT SHOULD YOU MEMORIZE?
 AND TRANSPORTATION 3INCE THE EXAM DOES NOT ALWAYS
START OR END AT THE DESIGNATED TIME MAKE SURE THAT YOUR
9OU GET LUCKY HERE BECAUSE IT ISNَT NECESSARY TO ACTUALLY CHILDCARE AND TRANSPORTATION ARRANGEMENTS ARE FLEXIBLE
MEMORIZE ANYTHING 4HE EXAM IS OPEN BOOK SO YOU CAN
LOOK UP ANY PROCEDURE FORMULA OR PIECE OF INFORMATION #HECK 00)َS WEBSITE FOR LAST MINUTE UPDATES AND ERRATA
THAT YOU NEED 9OU CAN SPEED UP YOUR PROBLEM SOLVING TO ANY 00) BOOKS YOU MIGHT HAVE AND ARE PLANNING TO
RESPONSE TIME SIGNIFICANTLY IF YOU DONَT HAVE TO LOOK UP BRING TO THE EXAM
THE CONVERSION FROM 7 TO FT LBFSEC OR THE DEFINITION OF
)F YOU HAVENَT ALREADY DONE SO READ THE 0REP 4IPS 
THE SINE OF AN ANGLE BUT YOU DONَT HAVE TO MEMORIZE !DVICE SECTION OF 00)َS WEBSITE PPIPASSCOM
THESE KINDS OF THINGS !S YOU WORK PRACTICE PROBLEMS IN
THE COMPANION BOOK YOU ARE LIKELY TO ABSORB THE INFOR )F ITَS CONVENIENT VISIT THE EXAM LOCATION IN ORDER TO FIND
MATION THAT YOU COME ACROSS MORE THAN A FEW TIMES THE BUILDING PARKING AREAS EXAM ROOM AND RESTROOMS
)F ITَS NOT CONVENIENT YOU MAY FIND DRIVING DIRECTIONS
ANDOR SITE MAPS ON THE WEB
DO YOU NEED A STUDY PLAN?

4AKE THE BATTERY COVER OFF YOUR CALCULATOR AND CHECK TO
)T IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU DEVELOP AND ADHERE TO A REVIEW MAKE SURE YOU ARE BRINGING THE CORRECT SIZE REPLACEMENT
OUTLINE AND SCHEDULE /NCE YOU HAVE DECIDED WHICH SUB BATTERIES 3OME CALCULATORS REQUIRE A DIFFERENT KIND OF
JECTS YOU ARE GOING TO STUDY YOU CAN ALLOCATE THE AVAIL BATTERY FOR THEIR ّPERMANENTْ MEMORIES 0UT THE COVER
ABLE TIME TO THOSE SUBJECTS IN A MANNER THAT MAKES BACK ON AND SECURE IT WITH A PIECE OF MASKING TAPE
SENSE TO YOU )F YOU ARE NOT TAKING A REVIEW COURSE 7RITE YOUR NAME ON THE TAPE TO IDENTIFY YOUR CALCULATOR
WHERE THE ORDER OF PREPARATION IS DETERMINED BY THE LEC
)F YOUR SPARE CALCULATOR IS NOT THE SAME AS YOUR PRIMARY
TURES  YOU SHOULD MAKE AN OUTLINE OF SUBJECTS FOR SELF
CALCULATOR SPEND A FEW MINUTES FAMILIARIZING YOURSELF
STUDY AND USE IT TO SCHEDULE YOUR PREPARATION ! FILL IN
WITH HOW IT WORKS )N PARTICULAR YOU SHOULD VERIFY THAT
THE DATES SCHEDULE LISTING EVERY CHAPTER AND THE EXAM
YOUR SPARE CALCULATOR IS FUNCTIONAL AND HAS ADEQUATE
SUBJECTS COVERED IN EACH IS PROVIDED IN 4ABLE  AT THE
BATTERY CHARGE
END OF THIS )NTRODUCTION

PREPARE YOUR EXAM KITS


HOW YOU CAN MAKE YOUR REVIEW
REALISTIC
 3ECOND IN IMPORTANCE TO YOUR SCHOLASTIC PREPARATION IS
THE PREPARATION OF YOUR TWO EXAM KITS 4HE FIRST KIT CON
)N THE EXAM YOU MUST BE ABLE TO QUICKLY RECALL SOLUTION
SISTS OF A BAG BOX PLASTIC MILK CRATES HOLD UP BETTER
PROCEDURES FORMULAS AND IMPORTANT DATA 9OU MUST THAN CARDBOARD IN THE RAIN  OR WHEELED TRAVEL SUITCASE
REMAIN SHARP FOR EIGHT HOURS OR MORE 7HEN YOU PLAYED
CONTAINING ITEMS TO BE BROUGHT WITH YOU INTO THE EXAM
A SPORT BACK IN SCHOOL YOUR COACH TRIED TO PUT YOU IN
ROOM
GAME RELATED SITUATIONS 0REPARING FOR THE 0% EXAM
ISNَT MUCH DIFFERENT FROM PREPARING FOR A BIG GAME ; = LETTER ADMITTING YOU TO THE EXAM
3OME PART OF YOUR PREPARATION SHOULD BE REALISTIC AND ; = PHOTOGRAPHIC IDENTIFICATION EG DRIVERَS LICENSE
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE EXAM ENVIRONMENT
; = THIS BOOK
,EARNING TO USE YOUR TIME WISELY IS ONE OF THE MOST ; = OTHER TEXTBOOKS AND REFERENCE BOOKS
IMPORTANT LESSONS AVAILABLE DURING YOUR REVIEW 9OU WILL
UNDOUBTEDLY ENCOUNTER PROBLEMS THAT END UP TAKING ; = REGULAR DICTIONARY
MUCH LONGER THAN YOU EXPECTED )N SOME INSTANCES YOU ; = SCIENTIFICENGINEERING DICTIONARY
WILL CAUSE YOUR OWN DELAYS BY SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME ; = REVIEW COURSE NOTES IN A THREE RING BINDER
LOOKING THROUGH BOOKS FOR THINGS YOU NEED OR JUST BY
; = CARDBOARD BOXES OR PLASTIC MILK CRATES TO USE AS A
LOOKING FOR THE BOOKS THEMSELVES
 /THER TIMES THE BOOKCASE
PROBLEMS WILL ENTAIL TOO MUCH WORK ,EARN TO RECOGNIZE
; = PRIMARY CALCULATOR
THESE SITUATIONS SO THAT YOU CAN MAKE AN INTELLIGENT DECI
SION ABOUT SKIPPING SUCH PROBLEMS ON THE EXAM ; = SPARE CALCULATOR

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m
xxxii
xxxiil E L E C T R O N I C S , C O N T R O L S & C O M M U N I C A T I O N S R E F E R E N C E M A N U A L

; = INSTRUCTION BOOKLETS FOR YOUR CALCULATORS • )MAGINE HAVING TO PARK TWO BLOCKS FROM THE EXAM
; = EXTRA CALCULATOR BATTERIES SITE (OW ARE YOU GOING TO GET EVERYTHING TO THE
EXAM ROOM #AN YOU ACTUALLY CARRY EVERYTHING THAT
; = STRAIGHTEDGE AND RULERS
FAR #OULD YOU USE A FURNITURE DOLLY A SUPERMARKET
; = COMPASS BASKET OR PERHAPS A HELPMATE
; = PROTRACTOR
• )MAGINE RAIN AND SNOW AS YOU ARE CARRYING YOUR CARD
; = MAGNIFYING GLASS BOARD BOXES OF BOOKS INTO THE EXAM ROOM 7OULD
; = SMALL JEWELERَS SCREWDRIVER FOR FIXING YOUR GLASSES OR FOR PLASTIC TRASH BAGS BE HELPFUL
REMOVING BATTERIES FROM YOUR CALCULATOR
• )MAGINE A DELAY OF AN HOUR WHILE THEY FIND SOMEONE
TO UNLOCK THE BUILDING TURN ON THE HEAT OR WAIT FOR
4HE SECOND KIT CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING ITEMS AND THE HEAD PROCTOR TO BRING INSTRUCTIONS
SHOULD BE LEFT IN A SEPARATE BAG OR BOX IN YOUR CAR IN • )MAGINE A 3TAR 4REK CONVENTION SQUARE DANCING CON
CASE THEY ARE NEEDED TEST CONSTRUCTION SITE OR AUCTION IN THE NEXT ROOM
• )MAGINE A SITE NEXT TO AN AIRPORT WITH FREQUENT TAKE
; = COPY OF YOUR APPLICATION
OFFS OR NEXT TO A CONSTRUCTION SITE WITH A PILE DRIVER
; = LIGHT LUNCH OR NEXT TO THE .(2!َS $RAG 2ACING #HAMPIONSHIP
; = A BEVERAGE
• )MAGINE A SEAT WHERE SOMEONE NEARBY CHEWS GUM
; = SUNGLASSES WITH AN OPEN MOUTH TAPS HIS PENCIL OR DRUMS HER FIN
; = EXTRA PAIR OF PRESCRIPTION GLASSES GERS OR WHEEZES COUGHS AND SNEEZES FOR EIGHT HOURS
; = RAINCOAT BOOTS GLOVES HAT AND UMBRELLA • )MAGINE THE DISTRACTION OF SOMEONE CRYING OR OF PROC
; = STREET MAP OF THE EXAM AREA TORS EVICTING YELLING AND SCREAMING EXAMINEES WHO
; = PARKING PERMIT HAVE BEEN FOUND CHEATING )MAGINE THE TRAGEDY OF
ANOTHER EXAMINEEَS SERIOUS MEDICAL EMERGENCY
; = BATTERY POWERED DESK LAMP
; = YOUR CELL PHONE • )MAGINE A SITE WITHOUT ANY HEAT WITH POOR LIGHTING
OR WITH SUNLIGHT STREAMING DIRECTLY INTO YOUR EYES
• )MAGINE A HARD FOLDING CHAIR AND A TABLE WITH ONE
4HE FOLLOWING ITEMS CANNOT BE USED DURING THE EXAM SHORT LEG
AND SHOULD BE LEFT AT HOME
• )MAGINE A POWER OUTAGE OCCURRING SOMETIME DURING
; = PERSONAL PENCILS AND ERASERS .#%%3 DISTRIBUTES THE EXAM
MECHANICAL PENCILS AT THE EXAM • )MAGINE A PROCTOR WHO A TELLS YOU THAT ONE OF YOUR
; = FOUNTAIN PENS FAVORITE BOOKS CANَT BE USED IN THE EXAM B ACCUSES
; = RADIO OR TAPE#$ PLAYER YOU OF CHEATING OR C CALLS ّTIME UPْ WITHOUT GIVING
; = EXTENSION CORDS
YOU ANY WARNING
; = SCRATCH PAPER • )MAGINE NOT BEING ABLE TO GET YOUR LUNCH OUT OF YOUR
; = NOTE PADS CAR OR FIND A RESTAURANT
• )MAGINE SOMEONE STEALING YOUR CALCULATOR DURING
LUNCH
PREPARE FOR THE WORST
 • )MAGINE GETTING SICK OR NERVOUS IN THE EXAM

!LL OF THE OCCURRENCES LISTED IN THIS SECTION HAPPEN TO .OW THAT YOU HAVE IMAGINED THESE POSSIBILITIES PLAN
EXAMINEES ON A REGULAR BASIS 'RANTED YOU CANNOT PRE HOW YOU WOULD DEAL WITH THEM 0REPARING YOURSELF FOR
PARE FOR EVERY EVENTUALITY "UT EVEN THOUGH EACH OF THE WORST POSSIBLE EXPERIENCE WILL REDUCE ANY SURPRISE
THESE OCCURRENCES TAKEN INDIVIDUALLY IS A LOW PROBABILITY SITUATIONS AND ENABLE YOU TO ADDRESS ANY REAL ISSUES THAT
EVENT TAKEN TOGETHER THEY ARE WORTH CONSIDERING IN MAY HAPPEN
ADVANCE

• )MAGINE GETTING A FLAT TIRE GETTING STUCK IN TRAFFIC OR

RUNNING OUT OF GAS ON THE WAY TO THE EXAM
• )MAGINE ARRIVING LATE #AN YOU GET INTO THE EXAM
WITHOUT HAVING TO MAKE TWO TRIPS FROM YOUR CAR

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 I N T R O D U C T I O N xxxiii
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WHAT TO DO THE DAY BEFORE THE EXAM


4HE COMMON SUGGESTIONS TO ّCOMPLETELY FILL THE BUBBLES
AND ERASE COMPLETELYْ APPLY HERE .#%%3 PROVIDES EACH
4AKE THE DAY BEFORE THE EXAM OFF FROM WORK TO RELAX $O EXAMINEE WITH A MECHANICAL PENCIL WITH (" LEAD 5SE OF
NOT CRAM THE LAST NIGHT ! GOOD NIGHTَS SLEEP IS THE BEST BALLPOINT PENS AND FELT TIP MARKERS IS PROHIBITED
WAY TO START THE EXAM )F YOU LIVE A CONSIDERABLE DIS
)F YOU FINISH THE EXAM EARLY AND THERE ARE STILL MORE THAN
TANCE FROM THE EXAM SITE CONSIDER GETTING A HOTEL ROOM
 MINUTES REMAINING YOU WILL BE PERMITTED TO LEAVE THE
IN WHICH TO SPEND THE NIGHT
ROOM )F YOU FINISH LESS THAN  MINUTES BEFORE THE END
#ALCULATE YOUR WAKE UP TIME AND SET THE ALARMS ON TWO OF THE EXAM YOU MAY BE REQUIRED TO REMAIN UNTIL THE
BEDROOM CLOCKS 3ELECT AND LAY OUT YOUR CLOTHING ITEMS END 4HIS IS DONE TO BE CONSIDERATE OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE
$RESS IN LAYERS 3ELECT AND LAY OUT YOUR BREAKFAST STILL WORKING
ITEMS
7HEN YOU LEAVE YOU MUST RETURN YOUR EXAM BOOKLET
-AKE SURE YOU HAVE GAS IN YOUR CAR AND MONEY IN YOUR 9OU MAY NOT KEEP THE EXAM BOOKLET FOR LATER REVIEW
WALLET
)F THERE ARE ANY PROBLEMS THAT YOU THINK WERE FLAWED IN
ERROR OR UNSOLVABLE ASK A PROCTOR FOR A ّREPORTING FORMْ
WHAT TO DO THE DAY OF THE EXAM

ON WHICH YOU CAN SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS &OLLOW YOUR
PROCTORَS ADVICE IN PREPARING THIS DOCUMENT
4URN OFF THE QUARTERLY AND HOURLY ALERTS ON YOUR WRIST
WATCH ,EAVE YOUR CELL PHONE IN THE CAR )F YOU MUST
HOW TO SOLVE MULTIPLE-CHOICE
BRING IT YOULL NEED TO LEAVE IT IN THE LOCKER AND SET IT TO
PROBLEMS
SILENT OR OFF 

9OU SHOULD ARRIVE AT LEAST  MINUTES BEFORE THE EXAM 7HEN YOU BEGIN EACH SESSION OF THE EXAM OBSERVE THE
STARTS 4HIS WILL ALLOW TIME FOR FINDING A CONVENIENT FOLLOWING SUGGESTIONS
PARKING PLACE BRINGING YOUR MATERIALS TO THE EXAM
ROOM MAKING ROOM AND SEATING CHANGES AND CALMING • 5SE ONLY THE PENCIL PROVIDED
DOWN "E PREPARED THOUGH TO FIND THAT THE EXAM ROOM
IS NOT OPEN OR READY AT THE DESIGNATED TIME • $O NOT SPEND AN INORDINATE AMOUNT OF TIME ON ANY
SINGLE PROBLEM )F YOU HAVE NOT ANSWERED A PROBLEM
IN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME MAKE A NOTE OF IT AND
WHAT TO DO DURING THE EXAM

MOVE ON TO ANOTHER

!LL OF THE PROCEDURES TYPICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH TIMED • 3ET YOUR WRISTWATCH ALARM FOR FIVE MINUTES BEFORE THE
PROCTORED COMPUTER GRADED ASSESSMENT TESTS WILL BE IN END OF EACH FOUR HOUR SESSION AND USE THAT REMAINING
EFFECT WHEN YOU TAKE THE 0% EXAM TIME TO GUESS AT ALL OF THE REMAINING PROBLEMS /DDS
ARE THAT YOU WILL BE SUCCESSFUL WITH ABOUT  OF
4HE PROCTORS WILL DISTRIBUTE THE EXAM BOOKLETS AND YOUR GUESSES AND THESE POINTS WILL MORE THAN MAKE
ANSWER SHEETS IF THESE PAPERS ARE NOT ALREADY ON YOUR UP FOR THE FEW POINTS THAT YOU MIGHT EARN BY WORKING
TABLES 9OU SHOULD NOT OPEN THE BOOKLETS UNTIL DURING THE LAST FIVE MINUTES
INSTRUCTED TO DO SO 9OU MAY READ THE INFORMATION ON
THE FRONT AND BACK COVERS AND YOU SHOULD WRITE YOUR • -AKE MENTAL NOTES ABOUT ANY PROBLEMS FOR WHICH
NAME IN THE APPROPRIATE BLANK SPACES YOU CANNOT FIND A CORRECT RESPONSE THAT APPEARS TO
HAVE TWO CORRECT RESPONSES OR THAT YOU BELIEVE HAVE
,ISTEN CAREFULLY TO EVERYTHING THE PROCTORS SAY $O NOT SOME TECHNICAL FLAW %RRORS IN THE EXAM ARE RARE BUT
ASK YOUR PROCTORS ANY ENGINEERING QUESTIONS %VEN IF THEY DO OCCUR 3UCH ERRORS ARE USUALLY DISCOVERED
THEY ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE IN ENGINEERING THEY WILL NOT BE DURING THE SCORING PROCESS AND DISCOUNTED FROM THE
PERMITTED TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS EXAM SO IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO TELL YOUR PROCTOR BUT
!NSWERS TO PROBLEMS ARE RECORDED ON AN ANSWER SHEET BE SURE TO MARK THE ONE BEST ANSWER BEFORE MOVING
CONTAINED IN THE TEST BOOKLET 4HE PROCTORS WILL GUIDE ON
YOU THROUGH THE PROCESS OF PUTTING YOUR NAME AND OTHER • -AKE SURE ALL OF YOUR RESPONSES ON THE ANSWER SHEET
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON THIS SHEET WHEN THE TIME ARE DARK AND COMPLETELY FILL THE BUBBLES
COMES WHICH WILL TAKE APPROXIMATELY  MINUTES 4HE
TIME IT TAKES TO COMPLETE THE FORM PORTION OF THE ANSWER
SHEET IS NOT INCLUDED AS PART OF THE FOUR HOURS YOU WILL
HAVE TO COMPLETE THE EXAM 9OU WILL BE GIVEN THE FULL
FOUR HOURS TO ANSWER PROBLEMS

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xxxiv
xxxivl E L E C T R O N I C S , C O N T R O L S & C O M M U N I C A T I O N S R E F E R E N C E M A N U A L

SOLVE PROBLEMS CAREFULLY


; = )F YOU PARTICIPATED IN A 00) PREP COURSE LOG ON ONE LAST
TIME TO THANK THE INSTRUCTORS 0REP COURSES REMAIN
-ANY POINTS ARE LOST TO CARELESSNESS +EEP THE FOLLOWING POSTED FOR A WEEK AFTER THE EXAM
ITEMS IN MIND WHEN YOU ARE SOLVING PRACTICE PROBLEMS ; = #ALL YOUR EMPLOYER AND TELL HIMHER THAT YOU NEED TO
(OPEFULLY THESE SUGGESTIONS WILL BE AUTOMATIC IN THE TAKE A MENTAL HEALTH DAY OFF
EXAM

; = $ID YOU RECHECK YOUR MATHEMATICAL EQUATIONS ! FEW DAYS LATER WHEN YOU CAN FACE THE WORLD AGAIN DO
; = $O THE UNITS CANCEL OUT IN YOUR CALCULATIONS
THE FOLLOWING
; = $ID YOU CONVERT BETWEEN RADIUS AND DIAMETER
; = -AKE NOTES ABOUT ANYTHING YOU WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY IF
; = $ID YOU RECHECK ALL DATA OBTAINED FROM OTHER SOURCES YOU HAD TO TAKE THE EXAM OVER AGAIN
TABLES AND FIGURES
; = #ONSOLIDATE ALL OF YOUR APPLICATION PAPERWORK
; = $ID YOU CONVERT TO THE REQUESTED UNITS CORRESPONDENCE TOFROM YOUR STATE AND ANY PAPERWORK
THAT YOU RECEIVED ON EXAM DAY
; = )F YOU TOOK A LIVE REVIEW COURSE CALL THE INSTRUCTOR OR
WRITE A NOTE TO SAY ّ4HANKSْ
SHOULD YOU TALK TO OTHER EXAMINEES
AFTER THE EXAM? ; = 2ETURN ANY BOOKS YOU BORROWED

; = 7RITE THANK YOU NOTES TO ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO WROTE
4HE JURY IS OUT ON THIS QUESTION 0EOPLE REACT QUITE DIF LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION OR REFERENCE FOR YOU
FERENTLY TO THE EXAM EXPERIENCE 3OME PEOPLE ARE ENER
GIZED -OST ARE EXHAUSTED 3OME PEOPLE NEED TO UNWIND
BY TALKING WITH OTHER EXAMINEES DESCRIBING EVERY DETAIL
OF THEIR EXPERIENCE AND DISSECTING EVERY EXAM PROBLEM AND THEN, THERE’S THE WAIT …

/THER PEOPLE NEED LOTS OF QUIET SPACE AND PREFER TO JUST
GET INTO A HOT TUB TO SOAK AND SULK -OST ENGINEERS 7AITING FOR THE EXAM RESULTS IS ITS OWN FORM OF MENTAL
APPARENTLY ARE IN THIS LATTER CATEGORY TORTURE
3INCE EVERYONE WHO TOOK THE EXAM HAS SEEN IT YOU WILL 9ES ) KNOW THE EXAM IS  MULTIPLE CHOICE AND GRAD
NOT BE VIOLATING YOUR ّOATH OF SILENCEْ IF YOU TALK ABOUT ING SHOULD BE ALMOST INSTANTANEOUS .EVERTHELESS YOU
THE DETAILS WITH OTHER EXAMINEES )TَS DIFFICULT NOT TO ASK ARE GOING TO WAIT 4HERE ARE MANY REASONS FOR THE DELAY
HOW SOMEONE ELSE APPROACHED A PROBLEM THAT HAD YOU !LTHOUGH THE ACTUAL MACHINE GRADING ّONLY TAKES SEC
COMPLETELY STUMPED (OWEVER KEEP IN MIND THAT IT IS ONDSْ CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING FACTS A .#%%3 PREPARES
VERY DISQUIETING TO THINK YOU ANSWERED A PROBLEM COR MULTIPLE EXAMS FOR EACH ADMINISTRATION IN CASE ONE
RECTLY ONLY TO HAVE SOMEONE TELL YOU WHERE YOU WENT BECOMES UNUSABLE IE IS INAPPROPRIATELY RELEASED
WRONG BEFORE THE EXAM DATE B 3INCE THE ACTUAL VERSION OF THE
.#%%3 REQUIRES EXAMINEES TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT STATING EXAM USED IS NOT KNOWN UNTIL AFTER IT IS FINALLY GIVEN THE
THAT THEY ّWILL NOT REVEAL IN WHOLE OR IN PART ANY EXAM CUT SCORE DETERMINATION OCCURS AFTER THE EXAM DATE
QUESTIONS ANSWERS OR SOLUTIONS TO ANYONE DURING OR AFTER /NCE .#%%3 HAS GRADED YOUR TEST AND NOTIFIED YOUR
THE EXAM WHETHER ORALLY IN WRITING OR IN ANY )NTERNET STATE WHEN YOU RECEIVE RESULTS DEPENDS ON WHEN THE
CHAT ROOMS OR OTHERWISEْ $ISCUSSING THE TEST EVEN TO WORK IS DONE BY YOUR STATE 3OME STATES HAVE TO APPROVE
EXAMINEES WHO TOOK THE SAME TEST AT THE SAME TIME THE RESULTS AT A BOARD MEETING OTHERS PREPARE THE CERTIF
COULD PROMPT .#%%3 TO INVALIDATE YOUR SCORE ICATES BEFORE SENDING OUT NOTIFICATIONS 3OME STATES HAVE
 EXAMINEES WHILE OTHERS HAVE  3OME STATES ARE
AFTER THE EXAM SHUT DOWN BY BLIZZARDS AND HURRICANES OTHERS ARE

ADMINISTRATIVELY CHALLENGED
(EREَS WHAT ) SUGGEST YOU DO AS SOON AS YOU GET HOME
BEFORE YOU COLLAPSE AND WHEN YOU PASS …


; = 4HANK YOUR SPOUSE AND CHILDREN FOR HELPING YOU DURING ; = #ELEBRATE
YOUR PREPARATION ; = .OTIFY THE PEOPLE WHO WROTE LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
; = 4AKE ANY PAPERWORK YOU RECEIVED ON EXAM DAY OUT OF OR REFERENCE FOR YOU
YOUR POCKET PURSE OR WALLET 0UT THIS INSIDE YOUR ; = 2EAD ّ&!1S ABOUT 7HAT (APPENS !FTER 9OU 0ASS THE
%LECTRONICS #ONTROLS AND #OMMUNICATIONS 2EFERENCE .#%%3 0% %XAMْ ON 00)َS WEBSITE
-ANUAL FOR SAFEKEEPING ; = !SK YOUR EMPLOYER FOR A RAISE
; = 2EFLECT ON ANY STATEMENTS REGARDING EXAM SECRECY THAT ; = 4ELL THE FOLKS AT 00) WHO HAVE BEEN ROOTINَ FOR YOU ALL
YOU SIGNED ALONG THE GOOD NEWS

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m
 I N T R O D U C T I O N xxxv
lxxxv

Table 9 Schedule for Self-Study

CHAP
J SUBJECTJ START DATEJ FINISH DATEJ
 3YSTEMS OF 5NITS
 %NERGY 7ORK AND 0OWER
 %NGINEERING $RAWING 0RACTICE
 !LGEBRA
 ,INEAR !LGEBRA
 6ECTORS
 4RIGONOMETRY
 !NALYTIC 'EOMETRY
 $IFFERENTIAL #ALCULUS
 )NTEGRAL #ALCULUS
 $IFFERENTIAL %QUATIONS
 0ROBABILITY AND 3TATISTICAL !NALYSIS OF $ATA
 #OMPUTER -ATHEMATICS
 .UMERICAL !NALYSIS
 !DVANCED %NGINEERING -ATHEMATICS
 %LECTROMAGNETIC 4HEORY
 %LECTRONIC 4HEORY
 #OMMUNICATION 4HEORY
 !COUSTIC AND 4RANSDUCER 4HEORY
 %LECTROSTATICS
 %LECTROSTATIC &IELDS
 -AGNETOSTATICS
 -AGNETOSTATIC &IELDS
 %LECTRODYNAMICS
 -AXWELLَS %QUATIONS
 $# #IRCUIT &UNDAMENTALS
 !# #IRCUIT &UNDAMENTALS
 4RANSFORMERS
 ,INEAR #IRCUIT !NALYSIS
 4RANSIENT !NALYSIS
 4IME 2ESPONSE
 &REQUENCY 2ESPONSE
 "ATTERIES &UEL #ELLS AND 0OWER 3UPPLIES
 0ROTECTION AND 3AFETY
 0OWER 3YSTEM -ANAGEMENT
 -EASUREMENT AND )NSTRUMENTATION
 %LECTRONICS &UNDAMENTALS
 *UNCTION 4RANSISTORS
 &IELD %FFECT 4RANSISTORS
 %LECTRICAL AND %LECTRONIC $EVICES
 $IGITAL ,OGIC
 ,OGIC .ETWORK $ESIGN
 3YNCHRONOUS 3EQUENTIAL .ETWORKS
 $IGITAL 3YSTEMS
 (IGH &REQUENCY 4RANSMISSION
 !NTENNA 4HEORY
 #OMMUNICATION ,INKS
 3IGNAL &ORMATS
 3IGNAL -ULTIPLEXING
 #OMMUNICATION 3YSTEMS AND #HANNELS
 !NALYSIS OF #ONTROL 3YSTEMS
 %LECTRICAL -ATERIALS
 .ATIONAL %LECTRICAL #ODE
 .ATIONAL %LECTRICAL 3AFETY #ODE
 "IOMEDICAL %LECTRICAL %NGINEERING
 %NGINEERING %CONOMIC !NALYSIS
 %NGINEERING ,AW
 %NGINEERING %THICS
 %LECTRICAL %NGINEERING &RONTIERS
 %NGINEERING ,ICENSING IN THE 5NITED 3TATES

P P I • p p i 2 p a s s . c o m