Question T5B04
From subelement T5 - T5B
Which is equal to one microvolt?
Why is this correct?
One microvolt equals one one-millionth of a volt (0.000001 V). The prefix 'micro-' (μ) represents 10^-6 or one millionth. Choice B (one million volts) would be a megavolt, Choice C (one thousand kilovolts) equals one million volts (also a megavolt), and Choice D (one one-thousandth of a volt) would be a millivolt. The key is remembering that micro- means millionth, not thousand.
Memory tip
When learning metric prefixes, remember they follow powers of 1000: milli- (thousandth), micro- (millionth), nano- (billionth), pico- (trillionth). Each step down adds three more zeros after the decimal point. This pattern appears consistently across all electrical units.
Learn more
In amateur radio operations, microvolts are commonly encountered when measuring weak signals at antenna inputs or receiver sensitivity specifications. Understanding that 1 μV = 0.000001 V helps when interpreting receiver specifications like '0.5 μV sensitivity for 10 dB signal-to-noise ratio.' This knowledge becomes essential when comparing transceiver performance specifications and understanding how weak signals propagate across amateur frequency allocations during poor band conditions.
Think about it
Why do you think amateur radio equipment specifications often use microvolts rather than expressing the same values in decimal volts?