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jtucker

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Started looking through some E-mag topics last night and attempted to work a few problems. I have not seen this stuff in like 20 years. My question is how much E-mag would you guys say is on the actual test (I will be taking power option). To really get a grasp on this topic I am going to put in a ton of time. Is it worth it or should I skim the basics and go on to "bigger" topics?

 
Started looking through some E-mag topics last night and attempted to work a few problems. I have not seen this stuff in like 20 years. My question is how much E-mag would you guys say is on the actual test (I will be taking power option). To really get a grasp on this topic I am going to put in a ton of time. Is it worth it or should I skim the basics and go on to "bigger" topics?

I would just learn the basics. The question on the test is not very difficult. I think there is only one or two questions on the exam about it. But have a really good resource with you for the exam on the topic that you can refer to incase you need it.

 
I didn't take the afternoon power, so I am just talking from common sense and a class I took. One thing they showed in the class were those reluctance type circuits inside transformers (they look sort of like electric circuits but with reluctance instead of resistance).

Other than that, a lot of EM is complicated multidimensional calculus. I don't think there is anyway they could put that in a six minute problem.

And some of the complicated stuff is related to antennas which would be in the ECC sections.

Like Eng dork said - I would learn the basics, get a good reference, and concentrate on the three phase junk.

But hopefully Luis, Art, grover, singlespeed, or one of the other power rangers will comment here.

 
Just chiming in to agree with what has already been said. I think Benbo is correct in that all you need is the basics. Between the NCEES practice exam and the EERM, the electromagnetic question(s) should be pretty well covered. They aren't going to have you working Maxwell's equation on a six minute multiple guess question.

:2cents:

Jim

 
Be prepared to answer EMAG with respect to magneetic flux and fields, as they applies to transformers and motor cores- specifically, magnetic circuits and how to calculate flux & field strength in a core of a particular cross-section and permeability created from current through a coil (and vice versa). There was 1 question like this when I took the test- if's really not hard material and you would be able to work through it with your references, just be familiar with it so you're not caught off-guard. EERM chapter 16 covers this, but is a poor reference for it, IMHO- I was lucky in that one of my old college textbooks (Rizzoni's "Principals and Applications of Electrical Engineering", Chapter 14) has an absolutely excellent section on this. And don't forget the handy-equations in FERM for converting electric to magnetic fields, and vice versa :D

As already mentioned, this is an open book exam- I wouldn't spend a lot of time on it, but it's worth getting familiar with the concepts before-hand. At least make sure you understand how to solve the problems in the NCEES practice exam.

There probably won't be any emag field/wave problems, but that's not to say they won't throw a random waveguide problem in the morning session, just to keep you hopping!

 
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