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8th grade Digital and analog signals worksheet

6 printable versionsBuilding Confidence10 questions · answer keyFree · no account

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Digital and analog signals

Grade 8 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

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Circle the best answer, or write your answer on the line.

  1. Bo's game stores each color shade as 4 bits (each bit is a 0 or a 1). How many different shades can 4 bits tell apart?

  2. Read this first

    Use this

    (example data). Top: an analog signal, a smooth wave. Bottom: a digital signal of 8 pulses, read as 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0.

  3. Using the signal pair, which signal is digital, and why, Jun?

    • The bottom one, since it has two levels, 1 and 0
    • The top one, since it is made of separate 0s and 1s
    • The top one, since it is smooth and so is copied exactly
    • Both are digital, since both signals carry a message
  4. A thermometer's liquid column can stop at any height. Is that signal analog or digital, and why, Kira?

    • Digital, since temperatures are written as numbers
    • Analog, since a thermometer is made of liquid
    • Digital, since a liquid column is either up or down
    • Analog, since any height in its range is possible
  5. A text message is stored as groups of 0s and 1s. Is that signal analog or digital, and why, Luz?

    • Digital, since each pulse is a 0 or a 1
    • Neither, since a message is not a signal
    • Analog, since letters change smoothly
    • Analog, since it travels through the air
  6. Copies of a recording (example data)

    copytape difference (%)digital file difference (%)
    120
    240
    370
    4110
    5160
  7. Using the table, what happens to the tape copies' difference from the original as more copies are made, Milo?

    • It shrinks, since later copies are cleaner
    • It stays the same, since a copy is a copy
    • It gets bigger with every copy
    • It grows at first, then stops
  8. What does the digital file's column show, Noah?

    • It got better with every copy
    • It could not be copied
    • It got worse, but more slowly than the tape
    • It matched the original in all five copies
  9. Which statement does the whole table support, Pia?

    • Digital copies are better because 0 is a small number
    • Tape drifted further with each copy; digital did not
    • Tape copies stay as close to the original as the first copy
    • Both kinds got worse, at different speeds
  10. Which bits does the receiver read from these four pulses, Ren?

    • 1, 0, 1, 0
    • 1, 1, 1, 1
    • 0, 1, 0, 1
    • 0.8, 0.2, 0.9, 0.1
  11. Which bits does the receiver read from these five pulses, Tala?

    • 1, 0, 1, 0, 1
    • 1, 0, 0, 0, 1
    • 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
    • 1.1, 0.3, 0.7, 0.2, 0.6
  12. The sender sent 1, 0, 1, 1, 0. Did noise change any bit the receiver reads, Zee?

    • Yes, because the 0.8 should have been a full 1.0 pulse
    • No, every pulse is on the correct side of 0.5
    • Yes, the 1.2 is higher than a full pulse
    • Yes, because the heights are not exactly 0 and 1 anywhere
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8th grade Digital and analog signals worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Digital and analog signals. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can tell an analog signal (smooth; any height) from a digital one (two levels, read as 0 and 1) and give the reason.
  • I can read noisy pulses with a halfway line, find which pulses noise pushed across it, and say when a bit is misread.
  • I can work out how many levels n bits give (2 multiplied n times) and how many bits a recording needs (samples a second × bits per sample × seconds).
  • I can work out how long a recording takes to send over a link (all the bits, divided by bits a second).
  • I can use a short lab report and a data table to support, limit or reject a claim about analog and digital copies, and say what is wrong with a weak test.

Standard: MS-PS4-3

Words to know

signal: A pattern that carries information

analog: Changing smoothly, able to take any value

digital: Using just two levels, read as 0 and 1

bit: One 0 or 1

noise: Small, random changes a signal picks up

sample: One measurement of a wave at one moment

halfway line: The 0.5 height; the receiver reads above it as 1 and below it as 0

Common mistakes

Your child doubled the number of bits. Each extra bit doubles the number of levels, so multiply 2 by itself once per bit.

Your child mixed up the two kinds. An analog signal is smooth and can take any height; a digital one jumps between just two levels.

Your child thought analog copies stay the same. Each analog copy keeps the noise of the copy before it and adds more, so copies of copies get worse.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with digital and analog signals?

Your child doubled the number of bits. Each extra bit doubles the number of levels, so multiply 2 by itself once per bit.

Are these 8th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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