Question
How frequently must an analog signal be sampled to be accurately reproduced?
Answer Options
- A) At least half the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
- B) At least twice the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
- C) At the same rate as the highest frequency component of the signal
- D) At four times the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
Correct Answer: B
Explanation
The accurate conversion of an analog signal into a digital format requires that the Analog-to-Digital Converter (\text{ADC}) sample the signal at a high enough rate to capture all of the information content. This requirement is defined by the Nyquist sampling theorem, a fundamental law of digital signal processing.
The Nyquist theorem states that an analog signal must be sampled at a frequency that is at least twice the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal. If the sampling rate falls below this minimum, the reconstructed digital signal will suffer from aliasing, where the high-frequency components are incorrectly interpreted as lower frequencies.
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