🔍 Key Concepts

• Quartz crystal behavior in electronic oscillators • Role of a master oscillator in maintaining transmitter frequency stability • How a crystal can function as a frequency-determining element in an oscillator circuit

💭 Think About

• What is the main reason radio transmitters use quartz crystals instead of just LC (inductor-capacitor) tuned circuits? • Can a crystal itself act as the main tuning element of an oscillator, or is it always just an accessory to other tuned circuits? • Think about whether the statements in A and B can both be true at the same time based on how crystal-controlled oscillators are built.

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify how a crystal-controlled oscillator is typically described in radio theory texts (what does the crystal control?). • Consider if a crystal is known for frequency stability and whether that relates to a ‘master oscillator’. • Check whether it is technically correct that a quartz crystal can serve as the only tuned circuit in some oscillator designs, or if additional tuned circuits are always required.