Cables and Connectors

Question 1

Solid Wire

Answer 1

Single filament of metal; holds a shape but can break if bent too many times

Question 2

Stranded Wire

Answer 2

Multiple smaller wires nestled together; common,y found in 7, 19, 37, 0r even 61 strands; flexible

Question 3

Cable

Answer 3

Bundle of wires

Question 4

Ribbon cable

Answer 4

Shaped like long, flat ribbons with many individual wires side-by-side

Question 5

Insulation Displacement Connector

Answer 5

IDC; puts each wire between wedge shaped metal blades, piercing the insulation and making an electrical connection

Question 6

DIP Sockets

Answer 6

Allow an IC to be plugged into a board and easily removed, without the use of soldering equipment

Question 7

Dual-Wipe Socket

Answer 7

Flat metal springs that push against either side of each pin of the IC; inexpensive

Question 8

Machined-Pin Socket

Answer 8

Precision sockets; metal sockets are individually machined to the correct shape using a specialised lathe

Question 9

Barrel Plug and Jack

Answer 9

Commonly found on electronics that use a plug-in AC adapter; embedded within the jack is a simple switch that some devices use to change from battery power to external power

Question 10

Quarter-Inch Audio Plug

Answer 10

Phone plug; one of the first connectors ever invented; standard for musical instruments; unchanged since the 1890s; used to be used for telephone switchboards

Question 11

Headphone Plug

Answer 11

Eighth-Inch Plug; being replaced by USB-C and Bluetooth on smartphones, but still the simplest way to get audio in and out of a device

Question 12

Coaxial Cable

Answer 12

Has two conductors - a central wire that carries the signal and an outer, braided shield that carries ground currents and protects the signal from interference; designed to carry radio frequency (RF) signals

Question 13

Coaxial/Coax

Answer 13

Both conductors share the same centre axis

Question 14

Strength Member

Answer 14

A cord of high-strength fiber which provides mechanical and structural support to a cable

Question 15

F Connector

Answer 15

Threaded connector you can find on the back of a TV box or cable modem

Question 16

BNC Connector

Answer 16

Popular coaxial cable connector for radio frequency signals and general laboratory use; unlike F connector, it only takes a quick quarter-twist to connect and disconnect

Question 17

Impedance

Answer 17

The amount of effective resistance that a circuit presents to both DC and AC signals; cables and connectors with constant impedance minimise unwanted echoes in transmitted signals

Question 18

SMA Connector

Answer 18

Small, precise connectors; semi-rigid

Question 19

CAT6 Ethernet Cable

Answer 19

Common cable used worldwide to carry local network and internet traffic

Question 20

Serial at Attachment Cable

Answer 20

SATA; used inside computers to connect internal storage drives to the motherboard; each cable contains two twinaxial pairs - one carries data to the hard drive, and the other pair carries data from the hard drive

Question 21

Twinaxial

Answer 21

Two coaxial cables stuck together, sharing the same outer shield; signals transmitted with differential signaling

Question 22

Differential Signaling

Answer 22

Signals are represented by the voltage difference between the two wires; effectively cancels out most electrical interference,since the interference adds equally to both signal wires

Question 23

HDMI Cable

Answer 23

High-Definition Multimedia Interface Cable; connects computers and other video devices to monitors and televisions

Question 24

Video Graphics Array Cable

Answer 24

VGA; used to carry carry video signals from computers to monitors

Question 25

Basic USB Cable

Answer 25

Communicates power and data