Physics307L F08:People/Gooden/Notebook/070827

set up
I set up the oscilloscope with a BNC cable to ch1 connecting to the low output of the generator. Generator producing sine waves at ~50 Hz. Set on DC coupling.

ch1 positioned at v=0. Trigger set at v=0, slope-rising.

Measurements
Measurement- Voltage with original wave 1. using the grid to measure amplitude of the wave I get ~4.4 volts. 2. using the cursor mode I find an             amplitude of ~4.64 volts. 3. Using the measure control I again find an amplitude of ~4.64 volts.

REPEATS:making voltage measurements using the measure and cursor controls for waves of different applitudes and 20 and 30 hz.    1. 20hz wave, I find 2.72 volts after adjusting the amplitude. 2. 30 hz with another adjusted amplitude I find 1.36 volts as the amplitude.

Measurements- frequency - original wave (f=1/T) 1. Grid- I find period of ~20ms and so for frequency I find ~50hz 2. Cursor- I find a frequency of ~50Hz 3. Measure control- I find a frequency of ~49.50 Hz

REPEATS:making frequency measurements using the measure and cursor controls for waves of 2.4v applitudes and 30 hz.    1. Cursor- 30.6 Hz     2. Measure control- I find 30.6 Hz

* Trying these functions for different types of waveforms (square wave, etc) to measure frequency and amplitude the oscilloscope seems to do so properly.* **Dr. Koch helped to explain calculate frequency from period and to use the functions on the oscilloscope**

Triggering
A) What does triggering on the rising edge mean?       - this means that the trigger is set at a specified voltage on the           oscilloscope,and when the waveform reaches that value and is increasing,           event is registered.

AC Coupling
A)Read the ac coupling article    B)Getting a voltage of about 12V, and then looking at the AC coupling to shift the signal back to zero voltage, and then decreasing the sec/div and volts/div a distinct but 'noisy' sine component appears. The amplitude of the wave is ~10mV and a frequency of ~50kHz. C)Measuring Fall time - cursor function        1. Using 1.12 volt square wave, and measuring with the cursor command I find a             fall time of ~52ms         2. 880mV square wave, I find ~52ms     C) Measuring Fall time - Measure function 1. 880mV square wave, I find ~50ms 2. 1.12 V square wave, I find ~50ms D)To find the RC constant we can use the equations given to us in the wikipedia article      on the lab outline. The equation gives us $$.1=(exp(-t/s))$$ where t is the       fall off time calculated previously and s is the RC constant. Solving this equation I          find s=22.5 milli sec.     E)I was unable to find any information on the RC constant that I should expect on        the internet.

** Had help from TA in calculating the RC constant, and from Dr. Koch in using the correct equation to do so.**

FFT
1)Using the FFT math function to find the frequency of a sine wave and with help from Zane      Gibson, I find the frequency is 80Hz. Which matches up with what the wave generator is       producing.     2)