Specifications

2
Electronic Signals
Wave properties
The main purpose of an
oscilloscope is to display
electronic signals. By viewing
signals displayed on an
oscilloscope, you can determine
whether a component of an
electronic system is behaving
properly. So, to understand how
an oscilloscope operates, it is
important to understand basic
signal theory.
Wave properties
Electronic signals are waves or
pulses. Basic properties of waves
include:
Amplitude
Two main definitions for
amplitude are commonly used
in engineering applications.
The first is often referred to
as the peak amplitude and is
defined as the magnitude of the
maximum displacement of a
disturbance. The second is called
the root-mean-square (RMS)
amplitude. To calculate the RMS
voltage of a waveform, square the
waveform, find its average voltage
and take the square root.
For a sine wave, the RMS
amplitude is equal to 0.707 times
the peak amplitude.
Phase shift
Phase shift refers to the amount
of horizontal translation between
two otherwise identical waves.
It is measured in degrees
or radians. For a sine wave,
one cycle is represented by
360 degrees. Therefore, if two
sine waves differ by half of a
cycle, their relative phase shift is
180 degrees.
Period
The period of a wave is simply the
amount of time it takes for a wave
to repeat itself. It is measured in
units of seconds.
Frequency
Every periodic wave has a
frequency. The frequency is
simply the number of times a
wave repeats itself within one
second (if you are working in
units of Hertz). The frequency is
also the reciprocal of the period.
Figure 1. Peak amplitude and RMS amplitude for a sine wave
peak amplitude
RMS amplitude
period
Figure 2. The period of a triangular wave
Oscilloscope Fundamentals