SA 1 - Lab Report
SA 1 - Lab Report
DEPARTMENT
       The oscilloscope is the most important instrument available to the practicing technician
or engineer. It permits the visual display of a signal that can reveal a range of information
regarding the operating characteristics of a circuit or system that is not available with a standard
multimeter. At first glance, the instrument may appear complex and difficult to master. Be
assured, however, that once the function of each section of the oscilloscope is explained and
understood and the system is used throughout a set of experiments, your expertise with this
important toll will develop quite rapidly.
       In addition to the display of a signal, it can also be used to measure the average value,
rms value, frequency and period of a sinusoidal or nonsinusoidal signal. The screen is divided
into centimeter divisions in the vertical and horizontal directions. The vertical sensitivity is
V=(5mV/cm)x(6cm)=30mV (1.1)
        If one cycle of the same signal occupies 8 cm on the horizontal scale with a horizontal
sensitivity of 5 μs/cm, the period and frequency of the signal can be determined using the
following equations:
                       T = (5 μs/cm) x (8 cm) = 40 μs
And
                       f = 1/T = 1/40 μs = 25 kHz
Function Generator
        The function generator is a supply that typically provides sinusoidal, square-wave, and a
triangular waveform for a range of frequencies and amplitudes. Although the frequency of the
function generator can be set by the dial position and appropriate multiplier, the oscilloscope can
be used to precisely set the output frequency. The scope can also be used to set the amplitude of
the function generator since most function generators simply have an amplitude control with no
level indicators. Both the scope and function generator are built to withstand some abuse, so do
not be afraid to try various combinations of dial settings to fully develop your abilities with this
laboratory experiment. In addition, if you are working in a group, do not let one person perform
all the experimental work. You must spend the time in the laboratory, so why not learn how to
use the equipment properly and develop the skills that you will need when you see graduation
approaching and a job appears that will require a firm understanding of how to use the
oscilloscope and function generator.
1.5 Materials/Equipment
Instruments:
1 unit Oscilloscope
Supplies:
       1 unit            Function Generator
1.7 Procedure/s
       The instructor will provide a brief description of the various sections of the oscilloscope
and function generator.
Set-up
      a. Turn on the oscilloscope and adjust the necessary controls to establish a clear, bright,
         horizontal line across the center of the screen. Do not be afraid to adjust the various
         controls to see their effects on the display.
      b. Connect the function generator to one vertical channel of the oscilloscope and set the
         output of the generator to a 1000 Hz sinusoidal waveform.
      c. Set the vertical sensitivity of the scope to 1 V/m and adjust the amplitude control of the
         function generator to establish a 4V peak-to-peak (p-p) sinusoidal waveform on the
         screen.
Horizontal Sensitivity
      d. Determine the period of the 1000 Hz sinusoidal waveform in ms using the equation T =
         1/f. Show all work for each part of the experiment. Be neat!
(calculated) T = 1 ms
      e. Set the horizontal sensitivity of the scope to 0.2 ms/cm. Using the results of Part 2 (d),
         calculate and predict the number of horizontal divisions required to properly display one
         full cycle of the 1000 Hz signal.
Use the oscilloscope and measure the number of required divisions and insert below.
   f. Change the horizontal sensitivity of the oscilloscope to 0.5 ms/cm without touching any
      part of the controls of the function generator. Using the results of Part 2(d) how many
      horizontal divisions will now be required to display one full cycle of the 1000 Hz signal?
Using the oscilloscope, measure the number of required divisions and insert below.
   g. Change the horizontal sensitivity of the oscilloscope to 1 ms/cm without touching any
      part of the controls of the function generator. Using the results of Part 2(d), how many
      horizontal divisions will now be required to display one full cycle of the 1000 Hz signal?
Using the oscilloscope, measure the number of required divisions and insert below.
   h. What was the effect on the appearance of the sinusoidal waveform as the horizontal
      sensitivity was changed from 0.2 ms/cm to 0.5 ms/cm and finally to 1 ms/cm?
       Did the frequency of the signal on the screen change with each horizontal sensitivity?
       No, the frequency remained constant with each horizontal sensitivity.
       What conclusion can you draw from the results regarding the effect of the chosen
       horizontal sensitivity on the signal output of the function generator?
   i. Given a sinusoidal waveform on the screen, review the procedure to determine the
      frequency of the pattern. In other words, develop a sequence of steps to calculate the
      frequency of a sinusoidal waveform appearing on the screen of an oscilloscope.
Vertical Sensitivity
   j. Do not touch the controls of the function generator but return the sensitivity of the scope
      to 0.2 ms/cm and change the vertical sensitivity to 2 V/cm. Using this sensitivity,
      calculate the peak-to-peak value of the sinusoidal waveform on the screen by first
      counting the number of vertical divisions between peak values and multiplying the
      sensitivity.
k. Change the vertical sensitivity of the oscilloscope to 0.5 V/cm and repeat Part 2(j).
       The sinusoidal signal occupied the full screen as a result of the change in the vertical
       sensitivity. The peak amplitude does not change when changing the vertical sensitivity on
       the output signal of the function generator.
   m. Can the peak-to-peak output voltage of a function generator be set without the aid of an
      auxiliary instrument such as an oscilloscope or DMM? Explain.
       Yes, because the function generator only accepts peak voltage, the peak voltage can be
       calculated by multiplying the peak-to-peak value by two, allowing it to be entered directly
       into the function generator without the aid of an auxiliary instrument.
Part 3. Exercises
   a. Make all the necessary adjustments to clearly display a 5000 Hz, 6 Vp-p sinusoidal signal
      on the oscilloscope. Establish the zero-volt line at the center of the screen. Record the
      chosen sensitivities.
                                                                 Vertical Sensitivity: 1 V/div
                                                               Horizontal Sensitivity: 50μs/div
       Draw the waveform on the Fig. 1.1 carefully noting the required number of horizontal
       and vertical divisions. Add vertical and horizontal dimensions to the waveform using the
       sensitivities listed above.
       Calculate the period of the waveform on the screen using the resulting number of
       required horizontal divisions for a full cycle.
(calculated) T = 200μs
b. Repeat Part 3(a) for a 200 Hz, 0.8 Vp-p sinusoidal waveform on Fig. 1.2.
                                                                        (Calculated) T = 5ms
ACTIVITY 1: FAMILIARIZATION WITH OSCILLOSCOPE AND FUNCTION GENERATOR                              6
   c. Repeat Part 3(a) for a 100 kHz, 4 Vp-p square wave on Fig. 1.3. Note that a square wave
      is called for.
                                                           Vertical sensitivity = 1V/div
                                                        Horizontal Sensitivity = 1μs/div
(Calculated) T = 10μs
   a. Re-establish the 1 kHz, 4 Vp-p sinusoidal waveform on the screen. Calculate the
      effective value of the sinusoidal waveform.
                                                             (calculated) Vrms = 1.414 V
   b. Disconnect the function generator from the scope and measure the effective (rms) value
      of the output of the function generator using the digital meter.
   c. Determine the magnitude of the percent difference between the calculated and measured
      levels using the following equation:
%Difference =
%Difference = 4.53%
   d. Reconnect the function generator to the scope with the 1 kHz, 4 Vp-p signal and switch
      the AC-GND-DC coupling switch of the vertical channel to GND. What is the effect?
       The amplitude of the wave becomes zero and remains constant throughout the screen when
       the vertical channel's coupling switch from AC-GND-DC is changed to GND.
   e. Now move the AC-GND-DC coupling switch to the AC position. What is the effect on
      the screen display? Why?
      f. Finally, move the AC-GND-DC coupling switch to the DC position. What is the effect in
         the screen display (if any)? Why?
          Because there is no DC, no changes were discovered. In other words, there is no movement
         in the graph.
              2.
              3.
              4.
              5.
Figure 1.1
Figure 1.2
Figure 1.3
1.8.2   Calculations
        II.
        D. T = 1/f = 1/1000Hz =1ms
        E. Period of waveform = (0.2 ms/cm) (0.001) = 200ms
                No. of divs = 1ms(1div/0.2ms) = 5 divs
        F. No. of divs = 1ms(1div/0.5ms) = 2 divs
        G. No. of divs = 1ms(1div/1ms) = 1 div
        J. P-P value = 2div (2V/div) = 4Vp-p
        K. (0.5V/cm) (8) = 4Vp-p
        III.
        A. T = 4div (50μs/div) = 200μs
        B. T = 5div (1ms/div) = 1ms
        C. T = 10div (10μs/div) = 10μs
        IV.
        A. Vrms = 4v (1/2) (0.707) = 1.414V
        B. Difference (%) = ((1.414-1.35)/1.414) (100) = 4.53%
      1.8.3   Observations (if applicable)
              For what I observed is that whenever the time base was adjusted, the oscilloscope's
              signal wave took longer or shorter to complete one wave cycle, and the volt peak
              was modified, the signal waves have made the vertical divisions increased or
              decreased. The appearances on graph of the wave changes when you adjusted the
              horizontal or vertical sensitivity.
      1.8.4   Conclusion/s
              As a result, the researcher concluded that the higher the frequency, the more waves
              there will be before one complete division. The researcher can set the value of the
              peak-to-peak value on the function generator, and if the value of volt peak-peak
              changes, the time it will take to complete a full cycle will be determined by the
              vertical and horizontal sensitivity of the wave.
        Most modern day digital multimeters can be used to determine the condition of a diode.
They have a scale denoted by a diode symbol that will indicate the condition of a diode in the
forward- and reverse-bias regions. If connected to establish a forward-bias condition, the meter
will display the forward voltage across the diode at a current level typically in the neighbourhood
of 2 mA. If connected to establish a reverse-bias condition, an “OL” should appear on the display
to support the open-circuit approximation frequently applied to this region. If the meter does not
have diode-checking capability the condition of the diode can also be checked by obtaining some
measure of the resistance level in the forward and reverse-bias regions. Both techniques for
checking diode will be introduced in the first part of the experiment.
        The characteristics of a silicon or germanium diode have the general shape shown in Fig.
2.1. Note the change in scale for both the vertical and horizontal axes. In the reverse-biased
region, the reverse saturation currents are fairly constant from 0V to the zener potential. In the
forward-bias region the current increases quite rapidly with increasing diode voltage. Note that
the curve is rising almost vertically at a forward-biased voltage of less than 1V. The forward-
ohms (2.1)
ohms (2.2)
        It can be shown though differential calculus that the AC resistance of a diode in the
vertical-rise section of the characteristics is given by
ohms (2.3)
        For levels of current at and below the knee of the curve, the AC resistance of a silicon
diode is better approximated by
ohms (2.4)
2.5 Materials/Equipment
Instruments:
       1 unit          DMM
Components:
     Resistors:
     1 piece           1 kΩ
     1 piece           1 MΩ
Supplies:
       1 unit        DC Power Supply
Figure 2.2
Figure 2.4
Figure 2.6
2.7 Procedure/s
Resistance Scales
        As indicated in the Principle of the Activity, the condition of a diode can also be checked
using the resistance scales of a VOM or digital meter. Using the appropriate scales of the VOM
or DMM, determine the resistance levels of the forward and reverse-bias regions of the Si diode.
Enter results in Table 2.2.
        Although the firing potential is not revealed using the resistance scales, a “good” diode
will result in a lower resistance level in the forward bias state and a much higher resistance level
when reverse-biased.
       In this part of experiment, we will obtain sufficient data to plot the forward-bias
characteristics of the silicon diode on Fig. 2.5.
   a. Construct the network of Fig. 2.4 with the supply (E) set to 0 V. Record the measured
      value of the resistor.
   b. Increase the supply voltage until VR (not E) reads 0.1 V. Then measure VD and insert in
      Table 2.3. Calculate ID using the equation shown in Table 2.3.
   c. On figure 2.5, plot ID versus VD for the silicon diode. Finish off the curves by extending
      the lower region of the curve to the intersection of the axis at ID = 0 mA and VD = 0 V.
      Label each curve and clearly indicate data points. Be neat!
   a. In Figure 2.6, a reverse-bias condition has been established. Since the reverse saturation
      current will be relatively small, a large resistance of 1 MΩ is required if the voltage
      across R is to be of measurable dimensions. Construct the circuit of Fig. 2.6 and record
      the measured value of R on the diagram.
                                                                                      Rm = 10 MΩ
                                                                           (measured) VR = -19.44V
                                                                           (Calculated) Is = -1.944x10-6 A
c. Determine the DC resistance levels for the silicon diode using the equation
Yes, compared to the resistance of resistors in the low kilo ohm region, the values are effective as open circuits.
Part 4. DC Resistance
     a. Using the SI curve plotted in Part 2 (c), determine the diode voltage at diode current
        levels indicated in Table 2.4. Then determine the DC resistance at each current level.
        Show all calculations.
        RDC = Vd/Id
        = 0.61 V/0.0002 A = 3050 Ω
        = 0.654 V/0.001 A = 654 Ω
        = 0.696 V/0.005 A = 130.8 Ω
        = 0.714 V/0.01 A = 71.4 Ω
          ID (Ma)                   VD                     RDC
            0.2                   0.61 V                 3050 Ω
             1                   0.654 V                 654 Ω
             5                   0.696 V                 130.8 Ω
            10                   0.174 V                 71.4 Ω
Part 5. AC Resistance
   a. Using the equation rd = ∆V/∆I (Eq. 2.2), determine the AC resistance of the silicon diode
      at ID = 9 mA using the curve plot of Part 2c. Show all work.
                                                                                (calculated) rd =2 Ω
         (0.714-0.712)/ (10-9) = 2 Ω
   d. Repeat step 5(b) for ID = 2 mA for the silicon diode. Use Eq. 2.3.
                                                                       (calculated) rd = 13 Ω
         26 mV/2 mA = 13 Ω
       How do the results of Part 5(c) and 5(d) compare?
        Graphically, determine the firing potential (threshold voltage) of each diode from its
characteristics as defined in the Principle of the Activity. Show the straight-line approximations
on Fig. 2.5.
VT (silicon) = 0.7 V
QUESTIONS:
   1. Compare the characteristics of the silicon diode in the forward- and reverse-bias regions.
      How are they similar and what are their most noticeable differences?
      The forward bias has a bigger current than the reverse bias, whereas the reverse bias has a
       lesser current. The backward bias has more resistant than the forward bias.
          The more thermal energy there is, the more energy the electrons absorb, resulting in more
         conducting electrons and a lower resistance.
              2.
              3.
              4.
              5.
Table 2.1
Test Si
Forward 0.7 V
Reverse OL
Test Si
Forward 70 M Ω
Reverse OL
Table 2.4
ID (Ma) VD RDC
1 0.654 V 654 Ω
5 0.696 V 130.8 Ω
10 0.714 V 71.4 Ω
                    Yes, because the forward biasing allows current to flow through the diode, however reverse biasing
causes the diode to be in an open line condition, which is a sign of a good diode.
                     Yes, because when the diode is forward biased, it has a low resistance level, but when it is reverse
biased, it has a high resistance level.
1. Activity          Member does not         Member follows good       Member follows good         Member follows good        Member follows good and
Conduct            follow good and safe        and safe laboratory       and safe laboratory        and safe laboratory       safe laboratory practice at
                   laboratory practice in     practice some of the       practice most of the      practice at all times in   all times in the conduct of
                  the conduct of activity.   time in the conduct of    time in the conduct of     the conduct of activity.     activity and encourages
                                                    activity.                  activity.                                        others to do the same.
2.Equipment         Member is unable to        Member is able to          Member is able to         Member is able to         Member is able to operate
Operation and      operate the equipment     operate equipment and     operate equipment and      operate the equipment            the equipment and
Material             and instruments.        instrument with much          instrument with        and instruments with        instruments with ease and
Handling                                          supervision.               supervision.             ease and with              without supervision.
                                                                                                  minimum supervision.
3. Data                The group has              The group has             The group has             The group has                 The group has
Collection           presented mostly         presented relevant but      presentedrelevant         presentedrelevant         presentedrelevant complete
                      irrelevant data.       incompleteandinaccura     partial but accurate and    andalmost complete             and accurate data.
                                                     te data.               relevant data.          but accurate data.
4. Data               There are many            There are some           Analysis is partially      Analysis is correct.        Analysis is correct. The
Analysis and          inaccuracies in           inaccuracies in           correct. The group       The group recognized         group recognized some
Evaluation        analysis. The group did     analysis. The group      recognized some errors        some errors and           errors and inaccuracies in
                   not attempt to make        didattempt to make       and inaccuracies in the      inaccuracies in the       the processed, manipulated
                    some links to prior       some links to prior      processed, manipulated     processed, manipulated        and presented data. The
                        knowledge.                knowledge.             and presented data.        and presented data.          group is able to relate
                                                                         The group is able to       The group is able to        presented data to other
                                                                         make some links to         make some links to                knowledge.
                                                                           prior knowledge.          prior knowledge.
5. Results           The group has no         The group has vague        The group has clear        The group has clear         The group has clear and
Interpretation     interpretation of data     interpretation of data         and logical                and logical             logical interpretation of
                      and has invalid           and conclusion is       interpretation of data     interpretation of data       data and is able to draw
                        conclusion.          fundamentally flawed.         and/ attempts to         and is able to draw            suitable accurate
                                                                         identify trends from     some conclusions from        conclusions from the data
                                                                               the data.                 the data.
                                                                                                                                           Total Score
                                                                                                                          Mean Score = (Total Score / 5)