BACKGROUND INFORMATION

A sinusoidal waveform is a signal that has the form of the sine or cosine function. A sinusoidal current is usually referred to as alternating current (a.c.). This current reverses direction in a circuit at regular interval and has alternately positive and negative values. DATA ANALYSIS In the first part of the experiment, we connect the circuit shown in figure 1.a. After setting an appropriate time base on the oscilloscope, we were able to produce a straight line dc output. This shows that the waveform has a constant voltage. The recorded d.c. voltage was 5 V. When we vary the value of the potentiometer, we notice that the waveform didnt cross beyond the zero voltage axis of the oscilloscope. This is because the source is providing constant energy that doesnt vary with time. The voltage reading range as seen on the oscilloscope is the same since it is still on direct current state.

to its maximum peak value as a DC voltage is constant. This average value will only change if the duty cycle of the DC voltage changes. In a pure sine wave if the average value is calculated over the full cycle, the average value would be equal to zero as the positive and negative halves will cancel each other out. So the average or mean value of an AC waveform is calculated or measured over a half cycle only. The average value of an AC waveform is not the same value as that for a DC waveforms average value. This is because the AC waveform is constantly changing with time. When a sinusoidal voltage or current is specified, it is often in terms of its maximum (or peak) value or its RMS value, since its average value is zero. The power industries specify phasor magnitudes in terms of their RMS values rather than peak values.

Fig. 1 Circuit diagram for first part of the experiment

We then change the voltage source to 10VAC peak-toand able to produce a sinusoidal waveform which indicates now that it is an a.c. output.
peak,

An AC waveform is constantly changing its polarity every half cycle alternating between a positive maximum value and a negative maximum value respectively with regards to time. This means then that the AC Waveform is a "time-dependent signal". Generally, for AC waveforms this horizontal base line represents a zero condition of either voltage or current. Any part of an AC type waveform which lies above the horizontal zero axis represents a voltage or current flowing in one direction. Likewise, any part of the waveform which lies below the horizontal zero axis represents a voltage or current flowing in the opposite direction to the first. Generally for sinusoidal AC waveforms the shape of the waveform above the zero axes is the same as the shape below it. The value of an AC voltage is continually changing from zero up to the positive peak, through zero to the negative peak and back to zero again. The RMS value is the effective value of a varying voltage or current. It is the equivalent steady d.c. value which gives the same effect. The average or mean value of a continuous DC voltage will always be equal

References [1] http://www.raeng.org.uk/education/diploma/mat hs/pdf/exemplars_engineering/8_RMS.pdf [2] http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/accircuits/ACwaveform.html