Electronic Quizoo
October 1962 Popular Electronics

October 1962 Popular Electronics Table of Contents Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles from Popular Electronics, published October 1954 - April 1985. All copyrights are hereby acknowledged.

Here is a unique quiz by überquizmaker Robert Balin, from Popular Electronics. Names of components we use in electronics - particularly ones that have been around for a long time - were given nomenclature that come from the animal kingdom because they happen to resemble one in some way. Probably the most familiar are examples like the alligator clip, pigtails, and rabbit ears - although the younger you are the less likely you might be to have heard the names. Recent election results in Colorado and Oregon may give a resurgence in popularity of and familiarity with alligator clips by potheads. 

Electronic Quizoo

By Robert P. Balin

When an electronic part can be likened to some member of the animal kingdom, we often name it after the animal or insect it resembles. See if you can match the drawings (A - J) in our electronic zoo with the ten names listed at bottom of page.

1   Alligator ___

2   Butterfly ___

3   Rabbit ___

4   Bat ___

5   Horse ___

6   Crocodile ___

7   Bug ___

8   Cat ___

9   Pig ___

10   Spider ___

See answers below. 

Quizzes from vintage electronics magazines such as Popular Electronics, Electronics-World, QST, and Radio News were published over the years - some really simple and others not so simple. Robert P. Balin created most of the quizzes for Popular Electronics. This is a listing of all I have posted thus far.

Electronic Quizoo Answers

  1 - H   An alligator clip has teeth that mesh without overlapping.

  2 - C   A butterfly capacitor has wing-shaped rotor plates.

  3 - J   The rabbit-ear antenna is used with VHF television receivers.

  4 - G   The bat-wing antenna is used with UHF television receivers.

  5 - I   Horsepower ratings are given to electric motors.

  6 - A   Crocodile clips have overlapping jaws.

  7 - E   Bug refers to a telegraph key used by hams that makes "dots" automatically,

  8 - B   A cat whisker is a crystal detector probe.

  9 - F   Pigtails are the wire leads on resistors and capacitors.

10 - D   Spider is the name for the support (large black dot) that centers and holds the loudspeaker cone in place.

Posted September 23/2021
(updated from original post on 9/3/2014)