Technical Interview Questions For Instrumentation Engineering
Technical Interview Questions For Instrumentation Engineering
Instrumentation Engineering
30. If a 10 kHz frequency signal is applied to a T-FF then what will be the
frequency of output signal?
Ans. 5 kHz.
31. In RLC series circuit impedance at resonance is_______?
Ans. Minimum.
32. The device which is best suitable for the purpose of isolation of low
voltage circuit from high voltage circuit is______?
Ans. Optocoupler.
33. Energy meter at our home is an example of ___________ type of
instrument?
Ans. Integrating .
34. Why null type instruments are more accurate?
Ans. Since at the end of measurement they consume almost negligible power.
35. What is the basis of KCL?
Ans. Law of conservation of charges.
36. Why silicon is used in the fabrication of Zener diode?
Ans. Very low reverse saturation Current (nA).
37. Other name of Active transducer?
Ans. Self generating type of transducers.
38. What device you required for the purpose of interfacing of
microcontroller with a DC motor?
Ans. Relay.
39. What is the range of LVDT?
Ans. 1.25mm to250mm.
40. What is the frequency range of AC supply that can be applied to
LVDT?
Ans. 50 Hz to 20 kHz.
41. Output impedance range of a practical OPAMP is ______?
Ans. 10 to 100 .
42. Fourier series can be written only for ________ signals?
Ans. Periodic sisnals.
43. Semiconductors used for the fabrication of LED come under the
category of______?
Ans. Direct Band Gap semiconductors.
44. Solar cells are made by using_____?
Ans. CdS, Ni-Cd
45. Doping level of a zener diode is______?
Ans. 1: 105.
46. What is baud rate?
Ans. No. of bit changes (1to 0 or 0 to1) per second.
47. Reset address of stack pointer in microcontroller 8051 is _____?
Ans. 07H.
48. Hot wire anemometer is used for the measurement of ________?
Ans. Flow measuring device.
49. Indicating instrument shows __________ value of the quantity being
measured?
Ans. Instantaneous value.
50. An example of absolute type of instrument is___________?
Ans. Tangent galvanometer.
51. What is air core inductance ?
The inductance that would be measured if the core had unity permeability and
the flux distribution remained unaltered. (A measure of the inductance of a coil
without a core).
52. Define Humidity.
It is basically moisture content in air or it is the quantity of water vapour
retained by gas.
53. Define Hygrometer.
Used to measure the moisture content in air. It also used to measure humidity.
54. What is the basic principle of Hygrometer.
It consist of mechanical device measuring the dimension change of humidity
sensitive materials like animal hair, animal membrane , paper etc.
55. Define Moisture.
Defined as the amount of water absorbed by solids or liquids.
56. What is Psychrometer?
Psychrometer is a device that uses the bulb thermometers to measure
humidity. It is also used in air conditioning systems for maintaining humidity.
57. What is Ambient Temperature?
The average or mean temperature of the surrounding air which comes in
contact with the equipment and instruments under test.
58. Define Boiling Point
The temperature at which a substance in the liquid phase transforms to the
gaseous phase; commonly refers to the boiling point of water which is 100C .
59. What is Maximum Operating Temperature?
The maximum temperature at which an instrument can be safely operated.
60. What is Mean Temperature?
The average of the maximum and minimum temperature of a process
equilibrium.
the secret. Finally you must correct for any delays the signal experiences as it
travels through the atmosphere.
Q.70What is an advantage and a disadvantage of using sonar? (in comparison
to other sensors)
Answer Sonar as used in robots, typically consists of sending out a pulse of
sound and listening for the echo. By calculating the time from the initial pulse
to the return echo, and knowing the speed of sound, it becomes possible to
calculate the distance to the target object. Variants on sonar include changing
the frequency of the sound wave generated, and using psuedo random pulse
sequences and looking for the range that gives the maximum likelihood
response. Advantages of sonar: Relatively simple sensor, so low cost with easy
electronics An active sensor that gives range to nearest surface Very good
underwater, where nearly every other sensor is not good Disadvantages:
Distance estimates can vary a lot and be quite noisy for a number of reasons
Speed of sound varies as a function of air pressure and temperature. Ability of
sound to travel is also a function of air humidity. Reflection strength depends
upon the properties of the surface and the incidence angle. Multiple reflections
are possible. Cross-talk between multiple sensors is sometimes a problem (they
hear one another)
Q.71 When the distance between two charges is doubled, the force between
them will be equal to One Fourth
Q.72 What is impedance?
The opposition to the flow of current in an AC circuit
Q.73 What is reactance?
Opposition to the flow of alternating current caused by capacitance or
inductance
Q.74 What happens when the impedance of an electrical load is equal to the
internal impedance of the power source?
The source can deliver maximum power to the load
Q.75 In order to have the impulse response of a control system apporaching
zero with the time tending to infinity
The poles of the system must lie on the L.H.S of the S-plane
Q.76 what is an actuator?
A device that creates automatic motion by converting various forms of energy to
rotary or linear mechanical energy. Its a device to convert an electrical control
signal to a physical action.
Q.77 How Does a Battery Work? and How does a battery charge?
Battery has got two leads,one positive and other negative.Electrons gather at
the negative terminal of the battery and if you connect a wire across negative to
positive,then the electrons from negative end will quickly flow through the wire
to the positive terminal.Normally you will have a load connected in the wire
which reduces the flow of electrons like a bulb or motor.
Inside the battery itself, a chemical reaction produces the electrons. The speed
of electron production by this chemical reaction (the battery's internal
resistance) controls how many electrons can flow between the terminals.
Electrons flow from the battery into a wire, and must travel from the negative to
the positive terminal for the chemical reaction to take place.
Q.78 Explain proportional controller with advantages and disadvantages.
Q.79 Explain integral controller with advantages and disadvantages.
Q.80 Explain differential controller with advantage and disadvantages.
Q.81Explain all the composite mode controllers with advantages and
disadvantages.
Q-82 What is difference between circuit and network?
Q-83 What is difference between network analysis and synthesis?
Q-84 Why we study superposition theorem?
Q.85 What are the techniques used for electrical network synthesis.
Q.86 semiconductor materials have________________temperature cofficient
Ans . negative
Q.87 The Hall effect voltage in intrinsic silicon
Ans. is negative
Q-88 The effect of doping intrinsic semiconductor is to
Ans. move the Fermi level away from the centre of the forbidden band
Q.89 The function of the safety resistor in ohm meter is to
Ans. limit the current in the coil
Q.90.Which transducer converts heat energy into electrical energy
Ans. thermocouple
Q.91 In CRT the focusing anode is located
Ans. between pre accelerating and accelerating anodes
Q.92 Aquadag is used in CRO to collect
Ans. Both primary and secondary electrons
Q.93A device that changes one form of energy to another is called
Ans .transducer
Q.94The electric device which blocks DC but allows AC is called:
Ans. capacitance
Q.95Which of the following electrical equipment cannot convert ac into dc
Ans. rectifier
Q.96 turn on and turn off times of transistor depends on
Ans. junction capacitances
Q.97 the surface dark current of a photodetector depends on
Ans surface defects.
Q.98 a solar cell is a device which uses
Ans photo voltaic effect.
Q.122 which logic gate has the output is compliment of its input ---------Ans: NOT
Q.123 by adding inverters to the inputs and output of a AND gate we can
obtain
Ans: X-OR
Q.124 How many NAND gates are needed to realize OR gate
Answer 3
Q.125 Which logic gate has output high if and only if all inputs are low
---------?
Ans: NAND
Q.126 if the output of the gate is always high then the gates applied to this
logic are 0,0
Ans: NAND and EX-NOR
Q.127 Thermal Run away is not possible in FET because of the the flow of
Ans : minority carriers.
Q.128 How many NAND gates required to implement AB+CD+EF
Ans: 4
Q.129 Transparent latch is seen in which type of flip flop
Ans: D FF
Q.130 Which type of ADC is fastest?
Ans: Flash/Parallel
Q.131Which one of the following is fastest read/writable memory?
Ans: Flash
Q.132 output resistance of ideal OP AMP is
ANS: 0
12 Thermocouples are
Ans. active transducers
13) Aquadag is used in CRO to collect
Ans. Both primary and secondary electrons
14) A device that changes one form of energy to another is called
Ans .transducer
15) The electric device which blocks DC but allows AC is called:
Ans. Capacitance
16) Which of the following electrical equipment cannot convert ac into DC?
Ans. Rectifier
17) Turn on and turn off times of transistor depends on
Ans. Junction capacitances
18 TRIAC cannot be used in
Ans. Solid state type of switch.
19) A thyristor controlled reactor is used to get
Ans improved reactive power factor
20) TRIAC cannot be used in AC voltage regulator for a
Ans inductive load
21) The surface dark current of a photo detector depends on
Ans surface defects.
22) A solar cell is a device which uses
Ans. Photo Voltaic Effect.
23) GaAs LEDs emit radiation in the
Ans. infrared region
(D) Low input impedance, low output impedance and high current gain.
Q.11 The transconductance, gm, of a JFET is computed at constant VDS, by
the following:
(A) ID /VGS
(B) VGS /ID
(C) VGS ID
(D) ID / (VGS +IDS)
Q.12 The feedback factor at the frequency of oscillation of a Wien bridge
oscillator is
(A) 3
(B) 1/3
(C) 1/29
(D) (3/29)
Q.13 In an amplifier with negative feedback, the bandwidth is
(A) increased by a factor of
(B) decreased by a factor of
(C) increased by a factor of (1+A)
(D) not affected at all by the feedback where A = gain of the basic amplifier and
= feedback factor
Q.14 The slew rate of an operational amplifier indicates
(A) how fast its output current can change
(B) how fast its output impedance can change
(C) how fast its output power can change
(D) how fast its output voltage can change
when a step input signal is given.
Q.15 In a clamping circuit, the peak-to peak voltage of the waveform being
clamped is
(A) affected by the clamping
(B) not affected by the clamping
(C) determined by the clamping voltage value
(D) determined by the ratio of rms voltage of the waveform and the clamping
voltage
Q.36 A single phase diode bridge rectifier supplies a highly inductive load. The
load current can be assumed to be ripple free. The ac supply side current
waveform will be
(A) sinusoidal (B) constant dc.
(C) square (D) triangular
Q.37 Which of the following Boolean rules is correct?
(A) A + 0 = 0 (B) A + 1 = 1
(C) A + = A.A (D) A + AB = A + B
Q.38 A single phase diode bridge rectifier supplies a highly inductive load. The
load current can be assumed to be ripple free. The ac supply side current
waveform will be
(A) sinusoidal (B) constant dc.
(C) square (D) triangular
Q.49 The temperature control system in the human body is an example of a
closed-loop control system.
A) True B) False
Q.40 In a temperature control system, what represents the output of the
system?
A) The required temperature. B) The actual temperature achieved.
C) The heat produced by the system. D) The heating element.
Q.41 What is the voltage gain of the following arrangement?
A) (1+AB)/B B) B/ (1+AB)
C) (1+AB)/A D) A/ (1+AB)
Q.42 Under what conditions does the gain of a feedback system approximate to
1/B?
A) The loop gain AB >> 1. B) The feedback path gain B >> 1.
C) The forward path gain A >> 1. D) The loop gain AB << 1.
Q.43 What is the gain of the following passive attenuator?
A) 0.1 B) 0.11
C) 9 D) 10
ANSWERS
1. Ans: (B)
The pentavalent atom provides an excess electron while the other four form the
covalent bond with the neighbouring atoms. This excess free electron provides
the n
type conductivity.
2. Ans: (C)
Resistance at any point in the forward characteristics is given by R= _V/ _I =
1/50mA = 20_
3. Ans: (A)
The voltage gain of a multistage amplifier is equal to the product of the gains of
the
individual stages.
4. Ans: (B)
It is the saturation region or pinch off region, and drain current remains
almost constant
at its maximum value, provided VGS is kept constant.
5. Ans: (B)
Here, a fraction of output voltage obtained by parallel sampling is applied in
parallel
with the input voltage through feedback and both input and output resistance
decrease
by a factor equal to (1+ _Av).
6. Ans: (A)
Piezoelectric crystal is used as a resonant tank circuit. The crystal is made of
quartz
material and provides a high degree of frequency stability.
7. Ans: (B)
8. Ans: (D)
Efficiency of a full wave rectifier is given by
[(2Im / _) 2 x RL] / [(Im / _2) 2 x (Rf + RL)] = 81%, when Rg is zero.
9. Ans: B
10. Ans: C
11. Ans: A
12. Ans: A
13. Ans: C
14. Ans: D
15. Ans: B
16. Ans: D
17. Ans: D
18. Ans: D
19. Ans: D
20. Ans: B
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
Ans:
C
A
D
A
B
C
B
B
B
A
D
B
B
D
C
B
C
B) self inductance
C) series resonance
D) parallel resonance
4 In relation to the synchronous machines, which one of the following
statements is false?
A) In salient pole machines, the direct-axis synchronous reactance is greater
than the quadrature-axis synchronous reactance
B) The damper bars help the synchronous motor self start
C) Short circuit ratio is the ratio of the field current required to produce the
rated voltage on open circuit to the rated armature current
D) The V-curve of a synchronous motor represents the variation in the
armature current with field excitation, at a given output power
5 The 8085 assembly language instruction that stores the content of H and L
registers into the memory locations 2050H and 2051H, respectively, is
A) SPHL 2050H
B) SPHL2051H
C) SHLD 2050H
D) STAX 2050H
6 The conduction loss versus device current characteristic of a power MOSFET
is best approximated by
A) a parabola
B) a straight line
C) a rectangular hyperbola
D) an exponentially decaying function
7 High Voltage DC (HVDC) transmission is mainly used for
A) bulk power transmission over very long distances
B) inter-connecting two systems with the same nominal frequency
C) eliminating reactive power requirement in the operation
D) minimizing harmonics at the converter stations
8 For the equation, s^3 4*s^2+ s + 6 = 0 the number of roots in the left half of
s-plane will be
A) 0
B) 1
C) 2
D) 3
9 A master-slave flip-flop has the characteristic that
A) change in the input immediately reflected in the output
B) change in the output occurs when the state of the master is affected
C) change in the output occurs when the state of the slave is affected
D) both the master and the slave states are affected at the same time
10 The cascade amplifier is a multistage configuration of
A) CC-CB
B) CE-CB
C) CB-CC
D) CE-CC
11 The bandgap of Silicon at room temperature is
A) 1.3 eV
B) 0.7 eV
C) 1.1 eV
D) 1.4 eV
12 In a PCM system, if the code word length is increased from 6 to 8 bits, the
signal to quantization noise ratio improves by the factor
A) 8/6
B) 12
C) 16
D) 8
13 For the polynomial P(s) = s^5 + s^4 + 2*s^3 + 2*s^2 + 3*s + 15, the number
of roots which lie in the right half of the s-plane is
A) 4
B) 2
C) 3
D) 1
14 Express the decimal number 57 in binary.
A) 100101
B) 111010
C) 110010
D) 111001
15 Noise with uniform power spectral density of N0W/Hz is passed through a
filter H (w) = 2 exp(-jwtd) followed by an ideal low pass filter of bandwidth BHz.
The output noise power in Watts is
A) 2N0B
B) 4N0B
C) eN0B
D) 16 N0B
16 What is the primary function of multiplexing?
A ) To match the frequency range of a signal to a particular channel.
B ) To reduce the bandwidth of a signal.
C ) To select one radio channel from a wide range of transmitted channels.
D ) To allow a number of signals to make use of a single communications
channel.
17 A second step to further increase system capacity is a digital access method
called TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access). Using the same frequency
channelization and reuse as FDMA analog but adding a time sharing element,
the effective capacity is:
A) Doubled
B) Tripled
C) Reduced by one third
D) Unchanged
18 An op-amp integrator has a square-wave input. The output should be
A ) a sine wave.
B) a triangle wave
C) a square wave.
D) pure DC.
(a) copy the original byte to the less significant byte of the word and fill the
more significant with zeros
(b) copy the original byte to the more significant byte of the word and fill the
less significant byte with zeros
(c) copy the original byte to the less significant byte of the word and make each
bit of the more significant byte equal to the most significant bit of the original
byte
(d) copy the original byte to the less significant byte as well as the more
significant byte of the word
46 Flat top sampling of low pass signals
(a) gives rise to aperture effect (b) implies over sampling (e) leads to aliasing (d)
introduces delay distortion
47 A half wave rectifier uses a diode with a forward resistance Rf. The voltage is
Vm sin wt and the load resistance is RL The DC current is given by
(a) Vm/Sqrt(2RL) (b) Vm/Pai * (Rr + RL)
(e) 2Vm/Sqrt(Pai) (d) Vm/RL
48 If carrier modulated by a digital bit stream had one of the possible phases of
0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees, then the modulation is called
(a) BPSK (b) QPSK (c) QAM (d) MSK
49 The Maxwell equation is
(a) Ampere's law
(e) Faraday's law
(b) Gauss low
(d) Coulomb's law
50 The probability density function of the envelope of narrow band Gaussian
noise Is
(a) Poisson
(e) Rayleigh
(b) Gaussian
(d) none of these
A system that grows without limit for a sustained change in input (constant
outflow or outflow independent of inflow condition).
12. Write any two characteristics of first order process modeling.
The smaller the value of time constant the steeper the initial response of the
system. A first order lag process is self regulating the ultimate value of the
response equal to Kp (steady state gain of the process) for a unit step change in
the
13. Distinguish between continuous process and batch process.
A process in which the materials or work flows more or less continuously
through a plant apparatus while being treated is termed as continuous
process. The
problem of continuous process is due to load changes. (e.g.) storage vessel
control.
A process in which the materials or work are stationary at one physical
location while being treated is termed as batch process. (e.g.) furnace.
14. Explain the function of controller.
The element in a process control loop that evaluated error of the controlled
variable and initiates corrective action by a signal to the controlling variable.
15. What is the purpose of final control element?
Components of a control system (such as valve) is used to directly regulates
the flow of energy or materials to the process. It directly determines the value of
manipulated variable.
16. Define Process control.
input.
It is the scheme that describes how much the manipulated variable should
change inorder to bring the controlled variable back to the setpoint.
17. List the two types of process control.
Direct process control
Controlled variable directly indicates the
performance of the process
Eg. Water heater system
The dynamic behavior one tank is affected by the other, but the reverse is
also true, then it is non-interacting system. Here the liquid heads are
dependent of
each other.
22. Mention two drawbacks of derivative action.
The output of controller is zero at constant error condition.
It will amplify the noise present in the error signal.
23. What are the steps involved to design a best controller?
Define appropriate performance criterion (ISE, IAE, ITATE). Compute the
value of the performance criterion using a P, PI, or PID controller with the best
setting for the adjusted parameters Kp, Ti, Td. Select controller which give the
best value for the performance criterion.
Discontinuous-ON-OFF controller.
Continuous Proportional Controller
40. Define cycling.
Oscillations of error about zero is called cycling.
42. Define controller turning.
Deciding what values to be used for the adjusted parameters of the
controller is called controller turning.
43. What is reaction curve.
In process controller, the reaction curve is obtained by applying a step
change (either in load or in set point) and plotting the response of the
controlled
variable with respect to time.
44. What performance criterion should be used for the selection and turning of
controller?
Keep the maximum error as small as possible.
Achieve short settling time.
Minimize the integral of the errors until the process has settled set Point.
45. Define ultimate gain.
The maximum gain of the proportional controller at which the sustained
oscillations occur is called ultimate gain (Ku).
46. What is ITAE and when to go for it?
ITAE means Integral Time Absolute Error. To suppress the errors that
persist for long time, the ITAE criterion will tune the controllers better because
the presence of large t amplifies the effect of even small errors in the value if
integral.
47. What are the parameters required to design a best controller?
Process Parameters (K,), Controller parameters (Kp,Ti, Td),performance
creation (ISE, IAE, IATE)
48. Write any tow practical significance of the gain margin.
56. Give the satisfactory control for gas liquid level process.
Proportional Control is the satisfactory control for liquid level process.
57. Give the satisfactory control for gas pressure process.
Proportional Control is the satisfactory control for liquid level process.
58. Give the satisfactory control for vapour pressure process.
PI Control is the satisfactory control for vapour pressure process having
fast response.
59. Give the satisfactory control for temperature process.
PID Control is the satisfactory control for temperature process.
60. Give the satisfactory control for composition process.
PID Control is the satisfactory control for composition process.
61. Define ratio control.
Ratio control is a special type of feed forward control where two
disturbances are measured and held in a ratio to each other.
62. Define cascade control.
Cascade control is defined as a control system composed of two loops
where the set point of one loop (the inner loop) is the output of the controller of
the other loop (the outer loop)
63. When cascade control will give improved performance than conventional
feedback control?
In some process the secondary variables in it introduce disturbance
throughout the system is measured and controlled by a separate loop.
64. Explain the purpose of cascade control for heat exchangers?
In heat exchangers, the control objective is to keep the exit temperature of
stream. But the flow rate of the stream creates the low disturbance throughout
of
its a function. The secondary loop is used to compensate the flow rate of the
stream.
The function of control valve in flow control system is to regulate the flow.
97. Name one application of electrical actuators.
Solenoid coil used to change gears.
98. Name the two types of plugs.
Single-seated and double-seated plug type control valves.
99. Define Rangeability.
It is the ratio of maximum controllable flow to minimum controllable flow.
What is rotating shaft type control valves.
1. Rotating-plug valves
2. Butterfly valves
3. Louvers.