Cambridge O Level Physics · Syllabus 5054 · Electricity and Magnetism
Oscilloscope
What is Oscilloscope?
An instrument that draws a graph of potential difference against time on a screen ruled into divisions. The Y-gain setting gives the number of volts per vertical division, so a p.d. is the number of vertical divisions multiplied by the Y-gain; the timebase setting gives the number of seconds per horizontal division, so a time interval is the number of horizontal divisions multiplied by the timebase, and the frequency of a repeating trace is one divided by its period.
This definition is part of the Electricity and Magnetism chapter in Cambridge O Level Physics.
Oscilloscope in context
An oscilloscope draws a graph of potential difference against time on a screen ruled into squares called divisions. The Y-gain tells you how many volts each vertical division represents; the timebase tells you how many seconds each horizontal division represents. Every measurement is then just counting divisions and multiplying.
Questions students ask about Oscilloscope
How do you read a voltage and a time interval from an oscilloscope trace?
An oscilloscope draws a graph of potential difference against time on a screen ruled into divisions. The Y-gain gives the number of volts per vertical division, so count the vertical divisions and multiply by the Y-gain to get a p.d. The timebase gives the number of seconds per horizontal division, so count horizontal divisions and multiply by the timebase to get a time interval; the frequency of a repeating trace is one divided by its period.