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10 views

Lab Report 1

Uploaded by

jeffreyjameswerdel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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RC Circuits

Lab No. 5
Date Performed: September 30, 2024

Sections:

Introduction

Procedure and Results:


1. Oscilloscope and Frequency Analysis
2. RC Circuit

Conclusion
Introduction
The RC circuits lab is split into two parts and explores RC circuits and the
practical use of an Oscilloscope. With the Oscilloscope it is possible to analyze
waveforms giving us an understanding of how a circuit is acting. In part A of the lab we
will use an Oscilloscope to calculate 10-90% rise time of a square-wave waveform. Part
B of the lab investigates RC circuits. RC circuits can be described by their time
constant. The equation for the time Constant(τ) is [τ = 𝑅𝐶] with R being the value of
the resistor and C the value of the capacitor. Part B demonstrates how to measure the
time constant and voltage amplitude across a capacitor of an RC circuit constructed
with a function generator and oscilloscope.

Materials:
● Oscilloscope
● Function generator
● 10 KΩ resistor
● 10 μF capacitor
● BNC cable
● Jumper wires
● BNC adapter
● Breadboard

Part A: Oscilloscope and Frequency Analysis


Part A starts with setting up the function generator. The function generator is set
to give a 500 Hz frequency with a 1V amplitude square-wave output. The offset is set to
0V. The function generator is then connected to channel 1 input of the oscilloscope
using a BNC cable. The function generator is turned on and then the oscilloscope.
After pressing the AUTOSET button on the oscilloscope a graph should appear that
looks like figure 1.
(Figure 1)

The SCALE knob on the oscilloscope gives you the ability to zoom in on a rise portion of
the square wave. The HORIZONTAL knob on the oscilloscope allows you to reposition
the wave so that it can be centered. These two knobs were used in order to get a graph
like the figure 2.
(Figure 2)

By pressing the cursor knob on the oscilloscope and using the multipurpose knobs, the
cursor on the screen can be moved to determine the 10-90% rise time(∆𝑡) of the
waveform. Overshoot is not considered in the oscilloscope’s measurement and there
was no overshoot present when we were conducting this lab. Using Openchoice
Desktop the results from part A of the lab are shown in figure 3.
(Figure 3)
Part B: RC Circuits
In part B a RC circuit similar to the one shown in figure 4 was constructed.
(Figure 4)

For this circuit 𝑅 = 10 𝑘Ω, 𝐶 = 10 µ𝐹 , 𝑉𝑖𝑛 is the function generator and 𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 is the
oscilloscope. The same square wave signals from Part A are inputted and the time
constant of the circuit is measured. Figure 5 shows the measurement of the time
constant.
(Figure 5)

From the prelab the time constant for the series RC circuit was calculated to be 0.1
seconds. The calculation we got from the lab was 0.35 seconds. The function
generator is then set to output a sine wave with frequency of 10 Hz and an amplitude of
2V peak-peak. The voltage amplitude across the capacitor is measured and the results
are shown in figure 6.
(Figure) 6

Conclusion
From part A of this lab we are able to see how an oscilloscope can be used to
measure rise time of a waveform. The calculated 10-90% rise time for the waveform
was 11.72 ns with a slew rate of 2.273 V/s. The slew rate can be thought of as the
amount of time that it would take a machine to react.

In part B the time constant for an RC circuit was measured and using a function
generator measured the voltage amplitude across a capacitor. In part B we measured
the time constant for our RC circuit as 351.9 ms = .3519 s. This is different then the
time constant that was calculated in the pre lab which was 0.1 seconds. The difference
between the two values could be due to a systematic error from the oscilloscope not
being able to measure the time constant accurately. The difference could also be a
result of random error because we may not have set the oscilloscope to the correct
setting in order to take an accurate reading.

From the pre lab we calculated that with higher values of frequency (𝑓) we will
get lower values of impedance. When we measured voltage amplitude across the
capacitor with the function generator output as a sine wave with a frequency of 10 Hz,
we got 3V. The lab asks to repeat the second half of part B with 1 kHz and 100 kHz
frequencies. We tried to get measurements from 1 kHz and 100 kHz but we were
unable to get any reading that was different then our 10 Hz reading. This could be an
error caused by systematic and/or random error that had to do with operating the
oscilloscope. Based on the calculations for impedance from the pre lab, we could
hypothesize that 1kHZ would result in the highest voltage while the 100 kHz would
result in the lowest voltage measured.

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