Write your name here: ______________________________ Your demonstrator needs to sign here before you leave : __________________________ Satisfactory

completion of this task will result in a mark of 10 being recorded on your laboratory record.

University of Cape Town Department of Physics

PHY1004W
Laboratory Tuesday 14 September 2010

The oscilloscope and LRC resonance

1. Introduction:

Work in groups of 2 (not 3, 4, ) This afternoon you must complete the exercise below which teaches you how to use the oscilloscope. Work through this exercise and fill in the information where necessary. No report is necessary. Show these pages to a demonstrator to sign you off and record your name before you leave. It is up to you to call on the demonstrators and ask them when you need help. Make sure that you know what you are doing. Try to finish page 6 by 15:30, which will allow about one hour for the LRC resonance measurements.

2. Getting started:

The diagram below shows a typical oscilloscope found in the first year laboratory.

(i) Switch on the oscilloscope (14). (That was the easy part.) (ii) If you can see something on the screen (a trace), alter the vertical and horizontal position of the trace using the x-shift (7) and y-shift (6) knobs. That was easy too. Check that the pull 5 mag (7) is pushed in. If the trace is too dim, use the brightness knob (21). If it looks blurred, try the focus (20). (iii) Locate the Timebase (Time/division) and Vertical Amplifier Gain (Volts/division) knobs and set them in the calibrate mode. You do this by turning the red knobs 4 , 25 and 9 as far as they can go clockwise (until you hear a click). Ask a demonstrator if you are not sure how to do this. The oscilloscope must be in the calibrate mode whenever you use it. This oscilloscope can accept two channel inputs (X and Y). If your test leads are connected to the Y input, then switch 3 should be on CH1 (channel 1). (CH2 is for the X input, DUAL displays both at once, and ADD sums the two signals.) There are thus two Volts/div knobs. You will only use the one corresponding to which channel you are using. Fiddle around a bit to make sure you know what youre doing here. (iv) Locate the trigger level knob (13). This is used to keep the trace steady if it flickers. Sometimes the trace will disappear completely and you will need to use the trigger control to bring it back. Check that the trigger level knob is pulled out (AUTO). The trigger source (18) should also be on INT (for internal trigger). It is sometimes useful to trigger the scope externally (input 10), but for your practicals, an internal trigger is fine. (v) Locate the AC/GND/DC switch (2) This is used to switch between the ac , dc and ground modes.

You are now ready to progress to the next sections where you will learn how to make measurements with the oscilloscope.

3. Measuring time:

Connect the oscilloscope leads directly to the output of the signal generator. Turn the trigger control fully clockwise to start with. Set the function generator to approximately 500 Hz and select a sine signal. (Stop! Is the display of the function generator on 1 ? If not, select 1 now.) Fiddle with the Volts/division and Time/division knobs until you get a decent sine curve on the screen.

Use the trigger control to obtain a clear, stationary picture, looking something like this.

Note: Changing the Volts/division or the Time/division scale does not change the actual reading. It only changes the scale that you use. 2

(i) (ii) (iii) (iv)

Change the Time/div to see what happens. Increase the frequency on the function generator and see what happens. Change the amplitude of the signal on the function generator. What happens? Now set the signal generator back to about 500 Hz, according to the digital display.

Adjust the Time/div and Volts/div control to obtain a picture as shown below. Measure the period of the signal and calculate the frequency to which this corresponds to. (Remember : frequency = 1 / period ) Period of signal = 5.2 divisions (5 ms/div) = 0.026 s Sweep time / division

In this example below:

5.2 divisions

Frequency from digital display on generator : _______________ Hz.

Frequency from oscilloscope : ________________ Hz.

Which of these values would you rather trust and why?

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(v) Now set the function generator to about 16.7 kHz and repeat the exercise.

Frequency from digital display on generator : _____________ Hz.

Frequency from oscilloscope : _______________ Hz.

4. Measuring potential difference:

Connect up the circuit as shown. rheostat Oscilloscope Q P DC power supply

Connect PQ directly to the oscilloscope. Set the AC/GND/DC switch to DC and set the Volts/div to 1 V/div. Fiddle with the Time/div and y-position until you get a stationary line on the screen. You will obtain different potential differences across PQ as you slide the rheostat up and down. Change the potential difference PQ and watch the line shift on the screen.

In order to measure a particular potential difference you must first determine the position of the line of zero voltage. Set the AC/GND/DC switch (2) to GND (ground) to see the position of the line for zero voltage. Use the y-shift knob (6) to position this line on a convenient position on the screen as shown below.

Set your ground position here and then dont touch the y-shift knob again

Set the AC/GND/DC switch back to DC and shift the rheostat to somewhere in the middle. The line on the screen would now have risen above the ground reference level. You can now measure the potential difference. Potential Difference = 5.2 divisions 2 Volts/div = 10.4 V Volts / division

For the example below:

5.2 divisions

Without shifting the rheostat again, change the Volts/div to a different setting and measure the potential difference. This value should be very close to (or equal to) the value obtained previously. Shift to a third Volts/div setting and measure the potential difference again (same reading?)

Can you see that you measure the same potential difference no matter what the Volts/div setting is? So, what is the best Volts/div setting to choose for a particular reading? Think!

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Now lets get some practice. Choose five settings of the rheostat (evenly spaced across the rheostat) and measure the potential difference using the oscilloscope.

Volts / division 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

No. of divisions

Potential difference (V)

5. Finding an unknown resistance.

Having familiarised yourself with the oscilloscope your next task is to measure the resistance of a series combination of two resistors, R1 and R2 . Connect the two resistors R1 and R2 in series with the standard resistor Rs (whose value is given on the box) and then connect the whole combination to the power supply as shown. a DC power supply RS known R1 b R2 c

You first need to determine the values of R1 and R2. It is necessary to know the current in the circuit in order to determine the values of the two unknown resistors. This is achieved by using the oscilloscope to measure the potential difference across the known standard resistor, Rs. Potential difference across Rs : ___________ V

Value of standard resistor, Rs : ____________

Current, I , in the series circuit : _____________ A

Having determined I the value of the R1 and R2 can be found by measuring the potential difference across each resistor individually ( i.e. across ab and across bc ).

(i)

Potential difference across R1 : __________ V Potential difference across R2 : ___________ V Value of resistor R1 : __________ Value of resistor R2 : ___________

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

(v)

Potential difference across R1 + R2 combination : __________ V Value of R1 + R2 combination : _________

(vi)

Does your value for (vi) equal the value for (iii) + (iv).

Did you expect this? Explain.

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6. LRC resonance In lectures this morning we discussed the phenomenon of resonance.

Resonance circuits are used, for example, in radio receivers, where the resonance frequency of the circuit is changed by varying the capacitance. Resonance occurs when the natural frequency of the circuit equals one of the frequencies of the radio waves picked up at the antenna. At resonance, there is a relatively large current in the antenna circuit. If the Q factor of the circuit is sufficiently high, currents due to other radio station frequencies off resonance will be negligible compared with those due to the station frequency to which the circuit is tuned.

For this part of the experiment, use the LRC circuit, the function generator and the oscilloscope. The value of the resistor is 220 , the capacitors value is 0.022 F and the value of the inductor is unknown. The frequency of the ac signal may be read on the LCD display on the front panel of the function generator and use the oscilloscope to measure potential differences. Connect up the circuit as shown in the diagram. Ensure that the earth lead of the oscilloscope is attached to the earth side of the function generator. Set the output (waveform) of the function generator to sinusoidal and turn up the amplitude to its maximum position. Set the frequency of the function generator to about 4 kHz and establish the approximate position of the resonance frequency by sweeping the frequency and observe the change in voltage on the oscilloscope. This will also enable you to decide on a suitable range and interval for your measurements.

Stop! Call a demonstrator to check that you can demonstrate the resonance in the circuit.

Now turn the frequency down to the bottom of the range and make careful measurements of f (the frequency of the generator), VR (the potential difference across the resistor) and Vo (the potential difference across the generator). Increase the frequency slightly and measure VR and Vo. Repeat this procedure until you have covered the entire range of f (through the resonance). Make sure that you take sufficient readings in the vicinity of the resonance frequency.

f (Hz)

VR (volts)

V0 (volts)

VR / V0

Plot a resonance curve of (VR /Vo ) against f. Your curve should look something like this:

VR /Vo

f From your resonance curve, determine the resonance frequency fr , and f , which is the full width of the curve at (peak maximum) / 2 . The Q of the circuit is then simply f r f = ______________ The inductance L of the coil can now be calculated from f r = 2 LC Estimate a standard uncertainty for L: ___________________ henries. 8

= ________________ henries.

The UCT Physics function generator:

(1): (2): (3): (4): (5): (6): (7):

LCD display Signal shape or function. Choose between a saw-tooth, sine or square function. \ The voltage (peak-to-peak) or amplitude coarse control. Usually set this at 10 mV. The voltage fine control. Usually set this mid-scale. The frequency coarse control. Choose for frequencies <10 (1) , <100 (10) , <1000 (100) and > 1000 (1000). The frequency fine control The display selector. This changes the scale of the display only.

Colour code for resistors: 2nd band Tolerance code

1st band first band : second band : third band : fourth band : Colour Black Brown Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Violet Grey White Gold Silver e.g. 4700 ohm :

3rd band

first significant figure second significant figure multiplier tolerance (if no 4th band, tolerance is 20%) Significant figures 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Multiplier 1 10 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 10-1 10-2 Tolerance

1% 2%

0.25% 0.10% 0.05% 5% 10%

AB/070908

yellow (4)

purple (7) 10

red (102)