What best describes a biased relay?

What best describes a biased relay?

• A. Relays that operate with alternating current only.
• B. Relays that observe polarity in one direction.
• C. Relays that ignore polarity and respond to voltage magnitude.
• D. Relays that switch in both directions.

Answer: (B)

A biased relay is built to be polarity sensitive: it will energize only when the applied voltage has the correct direction across its coil. The coil is wired so that one polarity drives the magnetic field in a way that pulls the armature and closes the contacts, while the opposite polarity either doesn’t energize it or causes it to stay de-energized. This directional preference is what defines a biased relay and why it’s used in circuits where the sign of the voltage matters. So the statement that a biased relay observes polarity in one direction matches this behavior. The other descriptions don’t fit because they either ignore polarity, claim the device works only with AC (which isn’t the defining feature), or imply it can switch in both directions (which a biased relay would not do).

A biased relay is built to be polarity sensitive: it will energize only when the applied voltage has the correct direction across its coil. The coil is wired so that one polarity drives the magnetic field in a way that pulls the armature and closes the contacts, while the opposite polarity either doesn’t energize it or causes it to stay de-energized. This directional preference is what defines a biased relay and why it’s used in circuits where the sign of the voltage matters.

So the statement that a biased relay observes polarity in one direction matches this behavior. The other descriptions don’t fit because they either ignore polarity, claim the device works only with AC (which isn’t the defining feature), or imply it can switch in both directions (which a biased relay would not do).