Fundamentals of Engineering Exam (FE) Electrical, Electronics and Computing Syllabus

Electrical, Electronics and Computing syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Electrical, Electronics and Computing in Fundamentals of Engineering Exam (FE), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   DC Circuit Analysis

   3 topics

   • Fundamental Quantities and Laws
     • Charge, current, voltage and power
     • Ohm's law and resistor networks
     • Kirchhoff's voltage and current laws
   • Circuit Analysis Techniques
     • Nodal and mesh analysis
     • Thevenin and Norton equivalents
     • Superposition and maximum power transfer
   • Energy Storage Elements
     • Capacitors and inductors
     • First-order RC and RL transients
2. 2

   AC Circuits and Power

   3 topics

   • Sinusoidal Steady-State Analysis
     • Phasors and impedance
     • RLC circuits and resonance
   • AC Power
     • Real, reactive and apparent power
     • Power factor and correction
   • Three-Phase and Transformers
     • Wye and delta configurations
     • Ideal transformer relationships
3. 3

   Electronics and Electromagnetics

   3 topics

   • Semiconductor Devices
     • Diodes and rectifiers
     • Bipolar and field-effect transistors
   • Operational Amplifiers
     • Ideal op-amp model
     • Inverting, non-inverting and summing configurations
   • Electromagnetic Fields
     • Electrostatics and Coulomb's law
     • Magnetic fields and forces
4. 4

   Digital Systems and Computing

   3 topics

   • Number Systems and Logic
     • Binary, octal, hexadecimal conversions
     • Boolean algebra and logic gates
     • Karnaugh maps and minimization
   • Sequential and Combinational Circuits
     • Flip-flops, counters and registers
     • Multiplexers, decoders and adders
   • Programming and Algorithms
     • Pseudocode and flowcharts
     • Data structures and basic algorithms
     • Spreadsheet computation

Electrical, Electronics and Computing flashcards for Fundamentals of Engineering Exam (FE)

20 of 51 cards from the Electrical, Electronics and Computing deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. State Ohm's Law relating voltage, current, and resistance, and give the equation.

   The voltage across a resistor equals the current through it times its resistance: $$V = IR$$ where $V$ is in volts, $I$ in amperes, and $R$ in ohms ($\Omega$).

2. Define electric charge and state its SI unit and the charge of a single electron.

   Charge $Q$ is the fundamental electrical quantity measured in coulombs (C). One electron carries $q = -1.602 \times 10^{-19}\ \text{C}$.

3. How are current and charge related?

   Current is the rate of flow of charge: $$i = \frac{dq}{dt}$$ One ampere equals one coulomb per second.

4. Give the formula for electrical power dissipated by a resistor in three equivalent forms.

   $$P = VI = I^{2}R = \frac{V^{2}}{R}$$ Power is in watts (W).

5. State Kirchhoff's Current Law (KCL).

   The algebraic sum of currents entering any node equals zero: $$\sum_{k} i_{k} = 0$$ i.e. total current in = total current out. It expresses conservation of charge.

6. State Kirchhoff's Voltage Law (KVL).

   The algebraic sum of voltages around any closed loop is zero: $$\sum_{k} v_{k} = 0$$ It expresses conservation of energy.

7. Give the equivalent resistance for resistors in series and in parallel.

   Series: $$R_{eq} = R_{1} + R_{2} + \cdots + R_{n}$$ Parallel: $$\frac{1}{R_{eq}} = \frac{1}{R_{1}} + \frac{1}{R_{2}} + \cdots + \frac{1}{R_{n}}$$ For two in parallel, $R_{eq} = \frac{R_{1}R_{2}}{R_{1}+R_{2}}$.

8. State the voltage divider rule for two series resistors $R_1$ and $R_2$.

   The voltage across $R_{2}$ is $$V_{2} = V_{s}\,\frac{R_{2}}{R_{1}+R_{2}}$$ where $V_{s}$ is the total applied voltage.

9. State the current divider rule for two parallel resistors $R_1$ and $R_2$.

   The current through $R_{1}$ is $$I_{1} = I_{s}\,\frac{R_{2}}{R_{1}+R_{2}}$$ The larger current goes through the smaller resistor.

10. What does Thévenin's theorem state?

    Any linear two-terminal network can be replaced by a single voltage source $V_{Th}$ in series with a resistance $R_{Th}$, where $V_{Th}$ is the open-circuit voltage and $R_{Th}$ is the resistance seen with independent sources deactivated.

11. What does Norton's theorem state, and how does it relate to Thévenin?

    Any linear two-terminal network can be replaced by a current source $I_{N}$ in parallel with $R_{N}$, where $I_{N}$ is the short-circuit current and $R_{N}=R_{Th}$. The conversion is $$V_{Th} = I_{N}R_{N}$$

12. State the Maximum Power Transfer theorem for a resistive load.

    Maximum power is delivered to a load when the load resistance equals the Thévenin resistance: $R_{L}=R_{Th}$. The maximum power is $$P_{max} = \frac{V_{Th}^{2}}{4R_{Th}}$$

13. What is the superposition principle for linear circuits?

    In a linear circuit with multiple independent sources, the response (voltage or current) is the algebraic sum of the responses caused by each source acting alone, with other voltage sources shorted and other current sources opened.

14. Describe node-voltage (nodal) analysis.

    Choose a reference (ground) node, define node voltages at the others, apply KCL at each non-reference node expressing branch currents in terms of node voltages via Ohm's law, then solve the resulting simultaneous equations.

15. State the current-voltage relationship for a capacitor and its energy storage.

    $$i = C\frac{dv}{dt}$$ The energy stored is $$W = \frac{1}{2}CV^{2}$$ A capacitor stores energy in its electric field and blocks DC in steady state (acts as an open circuit).

16. State the current-voltage relationship for an inductor and its energy storage.

    $$v = L\frac{di}{dt}$$ The energy stored is $$W = \frac{1}{2}LI^{2}$$ An inductor stores energy in its magnetic field and acts as a short circuit to DC in steady state.

17. Give the equivalent capacitance for capacitors in series and parallel.

    Parallel: $C_{eq}=C_{1}+C_{2}+\cdots$. Series: $$\frac{1}{C_{eq}}=\frac{1}{C_{1}}+\frac{1}{C_{2}}+\cdots$$ (opposite of resistors).

18. Give the equivalent inductance for inductors in series and parallel (no mutual coupling).

    Series: $L_{eq}=L_{1}+L_{2}+\cdots$. Parallel: $$\frac{1}{L_{eq}}=\frac{1}{L_{1}}+\frac{1}{L_{2}}+\cdots$$ (same form as resistors).

19. Define the time constant of a series RC circuit and an RL circuit.

    RC circuit: $\tau = RC$. RL circuit: $\tau = \dfrac{L}{R}$. After one $\tau$ the transient reaches about $63.2\%$ of its final change; it is essentially complete after $5\tau$.

20. Write the general first-order transient response for a quantity $x(t)$ charging/discharging.

    $$x(t) = x(\infty) + \big[x(0^{+}) - x(\infty)\big]e^{-t/\tau}$$ where $x(0^{+})$ is the initial value, $x(\infty)$ the final (steady-state) value, and $\tau$ the time constant.

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