Quiz 1 Information

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1) Logistics

Quiz 1 will take place on Tuesday, March 3 from 2:05 to 3:55 p.m. (i.e., the regularly-scheduled class hours) in 50-340, which encompasses the majority of Walker Memorial's third floor.

  • The quiz covers content from Homework 3 and from lectures and recitations up to (and including) February 19.
  • The quiz will be administered on paper, so be sure to bring a pencil. (We'll have spare pencils on hand, but probably not enough for everyone.)
  • You may use one 8.5"-by-11.0" page (two sides) of handwritten notes.
  • To prepare for the quiz, we recommend that you review content from the relevant lectures, recitations, and homeworks; prepare your sheet of handwritten notes; and take the practice quizzes under authentic quiz conditions. (Print out a practice quiz and take it in a quiet environment where you can focus. Time yourself. Use only your handwritten notes as a reference.)

2) Problem-Solving Session

Our lab assistants will run a problem-solving session from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 1 in 34-101. The problem-solving session is more like a two-hour recitation than a two-hour lecture. Lab assistants will work through past quiz problems, emphasizing practical problem-solving strategies. The problem-solving session will not be recorded.

3) Studying

At a high level, here are some things ought to know for the quiz.

  • You should understand the "big idea" of Fourier series: representing a periodic signal as a sum of sinusoids or complex exponentials.
  • You should be able to simplify complex calculations using Euler's formula.
  • You should be able to determine Fourier series coefficients without computing integrals or sums when such calculations are unnecessary.
  • You should be able to recognize common Fourier series pairs and properties.
  • You should be able to apply geometric reasoning to sketch magnitude and phase plots.
  • You should understand how to sample continuous-time (CT) signals to generate discrete-time (DT) signals.
  • You should recognize when aliasing occurs, how aliasing "folds" frequencies in a signal, and (at a high level) how to prevent aliasing.

Notes

Practice Quizzes

We aren't "hiding" old quizzes from you because we're going to put those questions on this year's quiz; rather, we've tried to provide recent quizzes which are most representative of the kinds of problem you might see on this year's quiz. We write new problems for each quiz.