A linear incremental encoder counts signals and correlates them to distance.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Only angular position
• D. Cannot be used for distance

Answer: (A)

Linear incremental encoders produce pulses as the read head moves along a straight scale, and each pulse represents a fixed amount of linear travel. By counting those pulses, you can determine how far the mechanism has moved from a reference point. This is exactly how they correlate signal counts to distance: the count times the known distance per pulse gives the traveled distance. Because it’s incremental, it provides relative displacement unless you also establish a zero or home reference, after which you can know absolute distance from that reference. It isn’t about angular position—that would describe rotary encoders—and it can indeed be used to measure distance by converting pulse count into linear units using the encoder’s resolution.