easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
220-1201 Practice Question: That their Android smartphone's touchscreen is…
A user reports that their Android smartphone's touchscreen is unresponsive after they dropped it in a puddle. The device powers on, but the display shows distorted colors and the touch input does not register at all. What is the most likely cause of this issue?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The digitizer and LCD have been damaged by liquid ingress
Water damage can cause short circuits and corrosion on the display digitizer and LCD panel, leading to both touch unresponsiveness and visual distortion. Powering on a wet device often worsens the damage. The correct answer focuses on the digitizer and LCD failure due to liquid ingress.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The device's battery is swollen and pressing against the display
Why it's wrong here
A swollen battery typically results from internal chemical reactions, often due to age, overcharging, or physical damage, and manifests as gradual bulging. While it can physically damage the display over time, it's highly unlikely to be the immediate cause of both touch unresponsiveness and color distortion directly following a water drop. Liquid ingress directly impacts the display's electronic components, which is a more direct and immediate cause of the reported symptoms.
- ✓
The digitizer and LCD have been damaged by liquid ingress
Why this is correct
Liquid ingress, especially water, can cause immediate short circuits and corrosion on the delicate electrical traces and connectors of both the digitizer and the LCD panel. The digitizer, responsible for touch input, will cease to function correctly if its circuitry is compromised, leading to unresponsiveness. Simultaneously, the LCD, which generates the visual display, will exhibit color distortion, flickering, or complete failure due to damaged backlighting, pixel drivers, or data lines, directly matching the reported symptoms after water exposure.
- ✗
The device's operating system has corrupted due to water exposure
Why it's wrong here
Water exposure primarily causes physical damage to hardware components through electrical shorts and corrosion, not direct corruption of the operating system's software files. While severe hardware damage could prevent the OS from booting, the OS itself resides on non-volatile storage (flash memory) and is not susceptible to direct data corruption from water. The reported symptoms of touch unresponsiveness and color distortion are indicative of display and input hardware failure, not a software integrity issue.
- ✗
The screen protector is trapping moisture and blocking touch input
Why it's wrong here
While a screen protector could potentially trap moisture underneath, interfering with touch input by creating a barrier or capacitive disruption, it cannot cause color distortion on the display itself. Color distortion is a direct symptom of damage to the underlying LCD panel or its associated display circuitry. A screen protector is a passive, transparent layer and does not possess the electronic components necessary to alter the display's visual output or cause internal color artifacts.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1201 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 220-1201 exam.