EMC Question of the Week: September 28, 2020

Three 2-Port Networks

Which of the two-port networks indicated in the figure are linear?

  1. (A) only
  2. (A) and (B) only
  3. all of them
  4. none of them

Answer

The correct answer is "a". Networks consisting of ideal linear passive components (e.g. resistors, capacitors and inductors) will always be linear.

(B) is not linear, because it produces an output even when the input is zero. (C) is not linear because the output is not always proportional to the input (e.g. multiplying the input signal by -1 does not necessarily produce an output that is -1 times the output of the original signal).
Definition of a Linear System

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