Physics307L:People/Klimov/Oscilloscope
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Oscilloscope Lab Summary
In this lab, I learned how to use an oscilloscope and gather useful data from it. The main overview of the lab is provided in the Lab Manual, and my procedures and other relevant data are provided in my lab notebook:
Summary of Data
- Fall Time= 51.20ms (cursor)
- Fall Time= 48.24ms (measured)
The first measurement, as noted, was obtained by using the 'cursor' feature. Because of the discrepancy between my cursor measurement and the oscilloscope's built in measurement, I think a reasonable uncertainty is ±3ms. However, if I were to repeat the lab, I would take more measurements so that I could reduce my experimental uncertainty. The time that I decided to use in calculating the time constant, τ, was the oscilloscope's 'measure' measurement:
- Vf=Vo·exp(-t/τ), Vf/Vo=0.1, t=48.24ms
- τ=20.95ms
Conclusions
- In this lab, I learned how to use the oscilloscope and some of its features. In particular, I learned how to use triggering, I learned about AC and DC coupling, how to view and manipulate an input signal, and how to make useful measurements. I am sure that these are useful skills which I will continue to develop throughout the semester.
- I definitely didn't go outside of the standard procedure as much as I would have liked. Although I did get to try out many of the oscilloscope's features, there are many more that I was unable to test out due to the time constraint. In fact, I never even got to the FFT section, or to the 'Other' section that came after.
- To make the lab better, it might be a good idea to give students an opportunity to get started on the very first day of lab so that they have more time to mess around with the device.
