When it comes to the ASVAB Electronic Information subtest, don’t feel like you have to know as much as Ben Franklin to get a passing score. Just keep a few basic principles in mind, and use your common sense.

If a question asks, “What’s the safest way to run an extension cord to a reading light?” the answer “across the middle of the floor” is probably going to be wrong.

You can also figure out quite a few answers if you remember these units of measure:

  • Current: Amperes (or amps)
  • Voltage: Volts
  • Resistance: Ohms
  • Power: Watts
  • Energy: Watt-hours

If you commit the following principles to memory, you’ll have an easier time succeeding on the Electronics Information subtest:

  • Ohm’s law: Current = Voltage / Resistance
  • Power Watts = Voltage (volts) × Current (amperes) or P = EI.
  • Current flows from a negative pole to a positive pole.
  • A closed circuit must exist for electricity to flow. (Think NASCAR.)
  • Alternating current (AC) changes direction constantly at a constant rate. The number of times a current completes two alternations of direction per second is known as its frequency; the unit of measurement for frequency is the hertz (Hz).
  • Electronic devices operate at very high frequencies.
  • Electronic devices often require a specific capacitive or inductive reactance to work. Capacitors and inductors are devices used in circuits to provide the type of reactance needed.
  • Devices that change alternating current to direct current are called rectifiers.
  • A transistor can amplify a signal.

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