General exam question G6A11
Subelement G6, CIRCUIT COMPONENTS· Group G6A
What happens when an inductor is operated above its self-resonant frequency?
- A.Its reactance increases
- B.Harmonics are generated
- C.It becomes capacitive (correct answer)
- D.Catastrophic failure is likely
WhyAn inductor operated above its self-resonant frequency becomes capacitive. Every real inductor has some stray capacitance between its windings, and above its self-resonant frequency that stray capacitance's reactance dominates, so the component's net behavior flips from inductive to capacitive, answer C. Its reactance doesn't simply keep increasing past that point, operating above self-resonance doesn't inherently generate harmonics, and it doesn't cause catastrophic failure on its own, so A, B, and D are wrong.
Published 2026-08-28 · Last updated 2026-08-28 · Question text is verbatim from the 2023-2027 NCVEC Element 3 pool (public domain); the explanation above is original writing, see our methodology.
Related questions
- G6A01What is the minimum allowable discharge voltage for maximum life of a standard 12-volt lead-acid battery?
- G6A02What is an advantage of batteries with low internal resistance?
- G6A03What is the approximate forward threshold voltage of a germanium diode?
- G6A04Which of the following is characteristic of an electrolytic capacitor?
- G6A05What is the approximate forward threshold voltage of a silicon junction diode?