In a dot matrix printer the time to print a character is 6 m.sec., time to…
2014
In a dot matrix printer the time to print a character is 6 m.sec., time to space in between characters is 2 m.sec., and the number of characters in a line are 200. The printing speed of the dot matrix printer in characters per second and the time to print a character line are given by which of the following options ?
- A.
125 chars/second and 0.8 seconds
- B.
250 chars/second and 0.6 seconds
- C.
166 chars/second and 0.8 seconds
- D.
250 chars/second and 0.4 seconds
Attempted by 118 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Answer: 125 characters/second; time to print a 200-character line ≈ 1.6 seconds.
Workings:
Time per character = 6 ms (printing) + 2 ms (inter-character space) = 8 ms.
Characters per second = 1000 ms / 8 ms = 125 characters/second.
Time to print 200 characters: if spacing after every character is counted, 200 × 8 ms = 1600 ms = 1.6 s. If spacing occurs only between characters, 200 × 6 ms + 199 × 2 ms = 1598 ms ≈ 1.598 s ≈ 1.6 s.
Conclusion: the correct figures are 125 characters/second and about 1.6 seconds to print a 200-character line. The provided options do not correctly show the 1.6-second line time; the option that lists 125 characters/second gives an incorrect line time.