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CompTIA Security+ 1.2
TechKnowSurge Catalog Interactives Which Sensor Is It?
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Which Sensor Is It?

Infrared, pressure, microwave or ultrasonic? Name the sensor in each card.

⚑ Complete this interactive to capture a CTF flag worth 5 points.

About this interactive

Infrared sits just below red in the spectrum, below what our eyes can see. Infrared cameras pick up heat signatures, so a person shows up even in the dark, and hiding your heat takes special material. A pressure sensor senses a change in force: a foot on a floor plate, the grip of an industrial gripper, the pressure of gas in a tank. Microwave and ultrasonic sensors both use the Doppler effect. The sensor sends out waves at a steady frequency and picks up the reflections. Something still sends them back at the same frequency; something moving toward the sensor sends them back closer together, and something moving away, further apart. From that it gets the direction and the speed. The difference is the wave. Microwaves are a range of radio frequencies, electromagnetic like light; that is how radar works. Ultrasound is sound above about 20,000 hertz, too high for us to hear; sound is a mechanical wave, which needs something to travel through. To sort a card, ask what is sensed: heat, force, reflected radio waves or reflected sound.

What you'll learn

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+
1.2 Summarize fundamental security concepts.

Key terms

Heat Signature
The infrared radiation emitted by a person or object due to its temperature, detectable by infrared cameras for identification and surveillance.
Infrared Camera
A specialized imaging device that detects infrared radiation rather than visible light, producing images based on heat signatures emitted by objects or individuals.
Pressure Sensor
A device that detects and measures physical pressure, used in industrial control systems to monitor equipment grip and tank levels, and in physical security systems to detect unauthorized entry or movement.
Doppler Effect
The observed change in frequency of a wave caused by relative motion between the wave source and the observer, used in radar to detect the speed and direction of moving objects.
Microwave
A range of high-frequency electromagnetic waves used in radar systems to detect and measure the speed of moving objects by analyzing reflected signals.
Ultrasonic Sensor
A device that emits ultrasound waves and detects their reflections to measure the distance, motion, or speed of objects.
Mechanical Wave
A wave that requires a physical medium to travel through, such as sound, as distinguished from electromagnetic waves.

Topics

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