An analog-to-digital converter (A/D) converts an electrical signal to a number to be read by a computer.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Not always
• D. Not applicable

Answer: (A)

Converting a continuous electrical signal into a digital numerical value is what an analog-to-digital converter does. It samples the signal over time, assigns each sample to a discrete amplitude level (quantization), and encodes that level into a binary word. That binary word is a number that a computer can read and process, with the size of the word determined by the converter’s resolution (for example, 8, 12, 16 bits, etc., giving a range from 0 to 2^n − 1). So the output is indeed a digital number representing the signal’s amplitude, which is why the statement is true.