Ham Radio General Class Practice Test

The root mean square (RMS) voltage of a sine wave is a value that represents the effective voltage of the waveform. For a sine wave, the RMS voltage can be calculated from the peak voltage using the formula:

\[ V_{RMS} = \frac{V_{peak}}{\sqrt{2}} \]

In this case, the peak voltage provided is 17 volts. To find the RMS voltage, we apply the formula:

\[ V_{RMS} = \frac{17 \text{ volts}}{\sqrt{2}} \approx \frac{17}{1.414} \approx 12 \text{ volts} \]

This calculation shows that the RMS voltage of a sine wave with a peak value of 17 volts is approximately 12 volts, making it the correct answer.

The other choices do not correspond to this relationship derived from the standard formula for RMS voltage, indicating they do not accurately reflect the conversion from peak to RMS for a sine wave.