School of Natural Resources Engineering & Management

Department Of Energy Engineering

Electrical Circuits Lab (ENE 213)

Experiment 07
7. The Function Generator and the Oscilloscope
7.1 Objectives
 To introduce the use of function generator for signal generation.
 To introduce the use of Oscilloscopes for signal measurements.

7.2 Introduction and theory

A function generator is a piece of electronic test equipment used to generate electrical waveforms.
These waveforms can be either repetitive or single-shot (once only) in which case some kind of
triggering source is required (internal or external). The resultant waveforms can be applied to a
device under test and analyzed as they progress through the device, confirming the proper operation
of the device or pinpointing a fault in it.

Analog function generators usually generate a triangle waveform as the basis for all of its other
outputs. The triangle is generated by repeatedly charging and discharging a capacitor from a constant
current source. This produces a linearly ascending or descending voltage ramp. As the output
voltage reaches upper and lower limits, the charging and discharging is reversed using a comparator,
producing the linear triangle wave. By varying the current and the size of the capacitor, different
frequencies may be obtained. Different types of waveforms generated by a function generator can
be seen in Figure 7.1.

Figure ‎7.1: Waveforms at the output of a function generator.

A 50% duty cycle square wave is easily obtained by noting whether the capacitor is being
charged or discharged, which is reflected in the current switching comparator's output. Most

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School of Natural Resources Engineering & Management
Department Of Energy Engineering
Electrical Circuits Lab (ENE 213)

function generators also contain a non-linear diode shaping circuit that can convert the triangle
wave into a reasonably accurate sine wave. It does so by rounding off the hard corners of the
triangle wave in a process similar to clipping in audio systems.

The type of output connector from the device depends on the frequency range of the generator. A
typical function generator can provide frequencies up to 20 MHz and uses a BNC connector,
usually requiring a 50 or 75 ohm termination. Specialized RF generators are capable of gigahertz
frequencies and typically use N-type output connectors. In this lab the function generator
GWinstek AFG-2005 is used and it is shown in figure 7.2.

Figure ‎7.2:Function generator GWinstek AFG-2005

The oscilloscope is basically a graph-displaying device – it draws a graph of an electrical signal. In

most applications, the graph shows how signals change over time: the vertical (Y) axis represents
voltage and the horizontal (X) axis represents time. The intensity or brightness of the display is
sometimes called the Z axis.

This simple graph can tell many things about a signal, such as:

 The time and voltage values of a signal.

 The frequency of an oscillating signal.
 The “moving parts” of a circuit represented by the signal.
 The frequency with which a particular portion of the signal is occurring relative to other
portions.
 Whether or not a malfunctioning component is distorting the signal.
 How much of a signal is direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC).
 How much of the signal is noise and whether the noise is changing with time.

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School of Natural Resources Engineering & Management
Department Of Energy Engineering
Electrical Circuits Lab (ENE 213)

The generic term for a pattern that repeats over time is a wave – sound waves, brain waves, ocean
waves, and voltage waves are all repetitive patterns. An oscilloscope measures voltage waves. One
cycle of a wave is the portion of the wave that repeats. A waveform is a graphic representation of a
wave. A voltage waveform shows time on the horizontal axis and voltage on the vertical axis.

Waveform shapes reveal a great deal about a signal. Any time you see a change in the height of the
waveform, you know the voltage has changed. Any time there is a flat horizontal line, you know that
there is no change for that length of time. Straight, diagonal lines mean a linear change – rise or fall
of voltage at a steady rate. Sharp angles on a waveform indicate sudden change.

In this lab the Oscilloscope that will be used is RIGOL DS1052E a picture of it is shown in
Figure 7.3.

Figure ‎7.3: Oscilloscope RIGOL DS1052E

A. Vertical Control:
1. Volts/Div. (CH1, CH2): Adjusts the vertical scale factor of the scope waveform.
2. CH1/CH2 Menu: Shows the channel function and channel waveform display
On/Off.
3. Math Menu: Shows the Math functions than can be applied to the current
waveforms.
4. CH1/CH2 Position: Adjusts the vertical position of the scope waveform.

B. Horizontal Control:
1. Time/Div.: Adjusts the horizontal axis scale factor.
2. Horizontal Menu: Shows the horizontal function.
3. Position: Moves the position of the horizontal axis.

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School of Natural Resources Engineering & Management
Department Of Energy Engineering
Electrical Circuits Lab (ENE 213)

C. Trigger Control:
1. Trigger Menu: Adjust the trigger MODE.
2. Trigger Source: Select the Trigger source.
3. Set Level to 50%: Set the Trigger level to the middle of the scope waveform.
4. Trigger Level: Selects the starting point of the trigger signal.

D. Menu:
1. Measure: Controls the measurement functions.
2. Storage: Controls the save/recall functions.
3. Acquire: Controls the acquire mode.
4. Cursors: Controls the cursor functions.
5. Utility: Sets the utility functions.
6. Display: Sets the display mode.
7. Auto: Automatically displays the optimum waveform of input signal.
8. Run/Stop: Controls the waveform acquisition.

Signal Parameters
 Frequency and Period

If a signal repeats, it has a frequency. The frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz) or 𝐬 −𝟏 and equals the
number of times the signal repeats itself in one second, referred to as cycles per second. A repetitive
signal also has a period – this is the amount of time it takes the signal to complete one cycle, the unit
of period (𝑇) is second. Period and frequency are reciprocals of each other, so that 1/period equals
the frequency and 1/frequency equals the period so:
1
𝑓=
𝑇

Also there is Angular frequency(𝝎) and its unit is rad/sec.

2𝜋
𝜔= = 2𝜋𝑓
𝑇
 Voltage

Voltage is the amount of electric potential – or signal strength – between two points in a circuit.
Usually, one of these points is ground, or zero volts, but not always. You may want to measure the
voltage from the maximum peak to the minimum peak of a waveform, referred to as the peak-to-
peak voltage.

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School of Natural Resources Engineering & Management
Department Of Energy Engineering
Electrical Circuits Lab (ENE 213)

 Amplitude

Amplitude refers to the amount of voltage between two points in a circuit. Amplitude commonly
refers to the maximum voltage of a signal measured from ground, or zero volts. The waveform
shown in Figure 7.4 has amplitude of 1 V and a peak-to-peak voltage of 2 V, if the signal is
symmetric around the Time axis then

𝐴𝑝−𝑝 = 2𝐴𝑚𝑎𝑥 = −2𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑛

Figure ‎7.4: Sine wave signal parameters

 RMS Voltage of a sinusoidal AC waveform

The term “RMS” stands for “Root-Mean-Squared”. Most books define this as the “amount of AC
power that produces the same heating effect as an equivalent DC power”, or something similar
along these lines, but an RMS value is more than just that. The RMS value is the square root of the
mean (average) value of the squared function of the instantaneous values; Figure 7.5 illustrates the
rms voltage. The symbols used for defining an RMS value are VRMS or IRMS.

The term RMS, only refers to time-varying sinusoidal voltages, currents or complex waveforms were
the magnitude of the waveform changes over time and is not used in DC circuit analysis or
calculations were the magnitude is always constant. When used to compare the equivalent RMS
voltage value of an alternating sinusoidal waveform that supplies the same electrical power to a given
load as an equivalent DC circuit, the RMS value is called the “effective value”.

A periodic sinusoidal voltage is constant and can be defined as V (t) = Vp Sin(ωt) with a period of T.
Then we can calculate the root-mean-square (rms) value of a sinusoidal voltage (V (t)) as:

1 𝑇
𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 = √ ∫ 𝑉𝑝 2 sin(𝜔𝑡) 𝑑𝑡
𝑇 0

And for a sinusoidal waveform:

𝑉𝑝
𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 =
√2

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School of Natural Resources Engineering & Management
Department Of Energy Engineering
Electrical Circuits Lab (ENE 213)

Figure ‎7.5: RMS voltage for sinusoidal waveform.

 Duty Cycle

This parameter is restricted for rectangular or triangular waveforms. And it can be defined as:
𝑇𝐻
𝐷𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝐶𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒 (%) = × 100% Rectangular waveform
𝑇
𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒
𝐷𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝐶𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒 (%) = × 100% Triangular waveform
𝑇

 Phase

Phase is best explained by looking at a sine wave. The voltage level of sine waves is based on circular
motion. Given that a circle has 360°, one cycle of a sine wave has 360°. Using degrees, you can refer
to the phase angle of a sine wave when you want to describe how much of the period has elapsed.
Phase shift describes the difference in timing between two signals having the same frequency. The
waveform in Figure 7.5 labeled “current” is said to be 30° out of phase with the waveform labeled
“voltage”.
∆𝑡
∆𝜃 = × 360𝑜 (0≤ ∆𝜃 ≤ 180)
𝑇

It is important to know that the phase shift measured between the closest two peaks; also the signal
on the left is leading, while the signal on the right is lagging.

Figure ‎7.6: phase shift in a sinusoidal waveform

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School of Natural Resources Engineering & Management
Department Of Energy Engineering
Electrical Circuits Lab (ENE 213)

7.3 Procedures
Part 1

1- Connect the circuit in Figure 7.7 on your bread board. Vs is a sinusoidal waveform which
can be generated from the function generator.

Figure ‎7.7: Circuit for part 1.

2- Connect the oscilloscope CH1 probe to the Vs, and connect CH2 probe to R2. Observe the
voltage waveform for the source and R2. Take a screenshot for both waveforms (you can
use a USB stick to take screenshots directly from the oscilloscope).
3- Change the positions of R1 and R2 and repeat step 2 but this time with CH2 probe on R1.
4- Measure the values in table 7.1, notice that measure menu can be used to show each type of
voltage measurements needed ( Vp, Vp-p, Vrms and Vdc).
Table ‎7.1: part 1 measurements

Peak Peak to Peak RMS

Vs
V1
V2
I
5- Using the curser function on the oscilloscope check the peak and peak to peak values
measured in step 4.
6- Change the function type from sinusoidal to rectangular and repeat steps 2-5.
7- Change the function type from rectangular to triangular and repeat steps 2-5.
8- Using LT Spice software simulate the circuit in figure 7.7, and measure the values in
Table 7.1.