COMM 14   FALL 2000   J. S. LEE   EXAM #1

Name___________________________________Pledge__________________________________

Read each item carefully. Choose the "best" answer for each question. Do not make hasty decisions on any answer. Budget your time. Don't stay too long with any one question. Answer all the questions you are sure of first. Come back to the rest. The maximum score is 130pts plus 3pts bonus. Turn in both the exam sheet and the answer sheet. 

Multiple Choice3pts each

1.The acoustic spectrum is __________:

1)Continuous over the range of human hearing

2)Continuous over the range of animal hearing

3)Continuous over a range beyond human hearing

4)Defined by psychological parameters

5)A disco club in Benson

2.There is a plan to place huge banks of very sensitive parabolic microphones on the moon and aim them toward Mars to listen for evidence of industrial activity. The plan is ____:

1)Feasible but in need of extremely sensitive microphones

2)Not feasible because of the great distance

3)Feasible but in need of extremely large speakers

4)Not feasible because of the noisy atmosphere on the moon

5)Not feasible because of the nature of the medium between Mars and the Moon

3.A transducer is _________:

1)An energy conversion device

2)A term for pro"ducer" of "trans"mitted programs on network TV

3)That technology that broadcasts radio and TV signals

4)A strobe light set at 8 - 10 Hz to sycnchronize with brain waves

5)Neither of these is even close.

4.Communication absolutely requires a __________:

1)Code using system

2)Written language

3)Spoken language

4)Mass medium

5)Degree in Communication Studies from UNC

5.An amplifier is __________:

1)A bank of transducers

2)A transducer working backward

3)A transducer set to respond to a limited frequency range

4)A device that accepts transducer output and increases it

5)A device that converts energy from one form to another.

6.Which of the following is not a part of the sound envelope?

1)Frequency

2)Pitch

3)Timbre

4)They are all parts of the sound envelope

5)None of these is part of the sound envelope

7.Light passing through a piece of frosted glass is an example of __________:

1)Specular transmission

2)Diffuse transmission

3)Absolute reflection

4)Transflection

5)None of the above

8.Our perception of the color of an object depends upon __________:

1)The actual color of the molecules in the object

2)The wavelengths of light reflected from or absorbed by the object

3)The amplitude of the wavelengths of light hitting the object

4)The presence of air to transmit the reflected waves to our eyes.

5)None of the above

9.A light wave is a __________. A sound wave is a ___________.

1)Transverse, transverse

2)Longitudinal, longitudinal

3)Transverse, longitudinal

4)Longitudinal, transverse

5)Neither of the above. Spectrum classifications such as these do not apply here

10.Which of the following would be the most logical synonym for "sound envelope?"

1)Amplitude contour

2)Frequency contour

3)Frequency graph

4)Amplitude diffusion curve

5)None of the above

11.The binary number 110011 is equivalent to the decimal number ___________:

1)58

2)59

3)52

4)51

5)"Fifty something" my foot. He is just trying to fool us. It is none of the above.

12.A binary number composed of eight places (an eight-bit number) can represent __________ values including zero.

1)128

2)129

3)64

4)256

5)Thousands of

13.Choosing a 16 bit device (or software) over a 32 bit device (or software) for graphics will most likely __________:

1)Be more expensive

2)Double the resolution of the representation

3)Cut the resolution of the representation in half

4)Make little difference in the outcome

5)None of the above

14.Which of the following does not belong in the list?

1)15 inches per second

2)32 bit 

3)44.1 kHz 

4)Stereo

5)Digital Audio Tape

15.Which of the following does not belong in the list? The list is about amplifiers.

1)Frequency

2)Gain

3)Amplitude

4)Level

5)Signal

16.Which of the following has the highest frequency?

1)650 nanometer wave

2)450 nanometer wave

3)Both have the same frequency. Only amplitude varies

4)Light waves do not have frequency

5)None of the above

17.__________ microphones pick up ambient sounds.

1)Omnidirectional

2)Unidirectional

3)Bi-directional

4)All

5)No ordinary 

18.Which word is the misfit from the list?

1)Dynamic

2)Condenser

3)Capacitor

4)Shotgun

5)Ribbon

19.Kick out the misfit.

1)Hertz

2)Cycles per second

3)Frequency

4)Pitch

5)KHz

20.How far away from two dots (three inches apart) would you have to be in order to see the two of them as one?

1)7 inches

2)70 inches

3)700 inches

4)7000 inches

5)3 x 70, or 210 inches

21.Film is shown at 24 frames per second because the __________ shows us that motion will appear smooth to most people at that frequency of projection.

1)Motion Picture Academy

2)Phi phenomenon

3)Flicker fusion frequency

4)Frequency response curve

5)Proximity effect

22.The Chromaticity diagram shows saturated hues along the outside edge. What happens as you move inward toward the center of the diagram?

1)The hues become "purer, more saturated." That is, they become whiter.

2)The frequency of the light decreases

3)The hues become "less pure, less saturated." That is, they become whiter.

4)The frequency of the light peaks at the maximum.

5)Nothing happens. The hues remain the same no matter where you are on the diagram. Only the amplitude (brightness) of the light changes.

23.A device that enables you to boost certain frequencies and attenuate others is called a

1)Pitch compressor

2)Frequency expander

3)Graphic equalizer

4)Parametric limiter

5)AGC

24.Lenses mainly depend on the phenomena of __________ and __________ for their operation.

1)Reflection, refraction

2)Reflection, diffraction

3)Diffraction, refraction

4)Refraction, transmission

5)Transmission, diffraction

25.In audio "dynamic range" refers primary to

1)general audio quality

2)signal-to-noise ratio

3)the range in loudness that equipment can reproduce

4)the audio frequency range that equipment can reproduce

5)the highest audio frequency that a speaker can reproduce 

26.The three primary subtractive colors are

1)magenta, cyan and yellow

2)red, blue and yellow

3)black, white, and grayscale

4)green, red and blue

5)none of the above is true

27.A rugged type of mic that is generally better able to withstand the rigors of field recording is the

1)crystal mic

2)dynamic mic

3)condenser mic

4)ribbon mic

5)contact mic

28.The most highly directional mic application type listed below is the

1)parabolic

2)hypercardioid

3)supercardioid

4)cardioid

5)polydirectional

29.Reverberation in a room interferes with the intelligibility of speech. This would be the greatest problem when

1)the room contains a lot of people and furniture

2)the room has a rug on the floor and acoustic tiles in the ceiling

3)the room has smooth walls and a hardwood floor

4)the room is extremely large

5)all of the above would create major problems

30.Some microphones tend to color the sound in favor of the lower frequencies when they are moved close to the sound source. This is known as the __________

1)Doppler effect

2)Transmission effect

3)Chromatic effect

4)Dynamic effect

5)None of the above

----------------------------

True - False 2pts each

31.A limiter can be thought of as a compressor with a high (20:1 or greater) compression ratio.

1)True

2)False

32.The law of inverse squares states that up to a certain point the apparent loudness of a sound actually increases as you move away from the source.

1)True

2)False

33.Numbers like 8-bit and 16-bit represent sampling depth. Numbers like 22kHz and 44kHz are used to designate sampling rate.

1)True

2)False

34.Echo and Reverberation are related just like frequency and pitch. One is physical, the other is psychological.

1)True

2)False

35.Recording in a large open space such as a field outdoors and recording in a foam-lined closed studio indoors both produce "dead" sounding recordings.

1)True

2)False

36.It takes two ears (binaural hearing) to get any spatial information (localization) about a sound source just as it takes two eyes (binocular vision) to get any spatial information about visual objects.

1)True

2)False

37.Rods are more motion-sensitive than the color and detail-oriented cones. They (the rods) are concentrated in the center of the retina thus enhancing human hand/eye coordination.

1)True

2)False

38.Light waves and x-rays are essentially the same phenomena. That is to say they are both forms of electromagnetic energy. They just differ in frequency.

1)True

2)False

39.While light and sound are very different in some ways, they are similar in other ways. As an example we depend upon the presence of the atmosphere (the medium of air) in order to both see and hear. In true outer space (not the movie versions) we could neither see nor hear without our eyes and ears surrounded by air.

1)True

2)False

40.Db is a relative measure of loudness. It has no fixed quantitative reference unit.

1)True

2)False

41.LPs (vinyl records) are linear playback devices just like the more popular cassettes that have replaced them. CDs, on the other hand, are nonlinear (random access)."

1)True

2)False

42.Digital recordings can be reproduced multiple times with no degradation of signal. Each copy is a perfect replica of the original. Analog recordings lose resolution and gain noise with each generation of reproduction.

1)True

2)False

43.A device that permits one to hear the output from more than one source (say, three microphones and a guitar amp) simultaneously is called an attenuator.

1)True

2)False

44.Headphones are essentially speakers.

1)True

2)False

45.Common audiotape formats range from 1/8"up to 1 inch. As a rule the larger tape size indicates higher resolution. Thus it is no surprise that the 1/4-inch reel-to-reel format offers greater fidelity than the smaller 1/8" cassette format.

1)True

2)False

Matching and bonus questions on next page.

Match the following (1 point each). No duplications. There is only one correct combination using all selections. A perfect match gets five bonus points. Enter your answers on your Scantron Sheet. 

46.Frequency3) hue

47.Amplitude2) loudness

48.Pitch4) frequency

49.Tempo1) speed

50.Color5) timbre

Bonus Question (3pts)

Write 7,937 as a binary number. Show your work in the space below.