CH1
- Frequency
- —
- Period
- —
- RMS
- —
- Mean
- —
- Maximum
- —
- Minimum
- —
- Peak-to-peak
- —
- Rise time (10–90%)
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- Fall time (90–10%)
- —
- Duty cycle
- —
Virtual engineering lab
Function Generator Fundamentals
Configure a reusable virtual function generator and verify its sine, square, triangle, and DC outputs with the two-channel oscilloscope.
Electrical Engineering / InstrumentationintroductoryValidated educational model
0% complete0 / 0 requirements
Complete the procedure, collect the required measurements, pass the engineering validation, and answer every graded concept question correctly.
What you should establish
- Generate sine, square, triangle, and DC waveforms from one reusable instrument model.
- Set amplitude, DC offset, frequency, duty cycle, and phase from a virtual front panel.
- Relate peak-to-peak amplitude and offset to the waveform high and low levels.
- Verify the generator output independently with oscilloscope measurements.
- Recognize settings that exceed the virtual generator output range instead of accepting physically invalid combinations.
Work through the experiment
Collect evidence from the model
- Measured frequencyOscilloscope frequency measured from the generator output.Pending
- Measured periodAverage period from oscilloscope threshold crossings.Pending
- Measured RMSRMS voltage calculated from acquired CH1 samples.Pending
- Measured meanMean voltage calculated from acquired CH1 samples.Pending
- Measured peak-to-peakMaximum minus minimum acquired CH1 voltage.Pending
- Measured duty cycleFraction of acquired time above the waveform midpoint.Pending
- Measured high levelMaximum acquired CH1 voltage.Pending
- Measured low levelMinimum acquired CH1 voltage.Pending
Verify the result, not just the workflow
- Generator frequency checkCompares oscilloscope-measured frequency with the configured generator frequency.Pending
- Generator amplitude checkCompares oscilloscope-measured peak-to-peak voltage with the configured generator amplitude.Pending
Only a passed engineering check satisfies guided completion. Warnings and failures remain visible even if the procedure checklist is complete.
Answer the graded multiple-choice questions
Choose one answer for each question. Each selection is graded immediately and saved locally. Guided Lab completion requires every concept question to be correct.
Concept score: 0 / 4 correct
Virtual instrument
Function generator
Sine
Output1.000 kHz · 4.000 VppOffset 0 V · Phase 0°
High +2.000 VLow −2.000 VPeriod 1.000 ms
Generator output is connected to oscilloscope CH1.
Virtual instrument
Auto · waitingTwo-channel digital oscilloscope
Run the experiment to acquire the reference signals.
Automatic waveform measurements
CH2
- Frequency
- —
- Period
- —
- RMS
- —
- Mean
- —
- Maximum
- —
- Minimum
- —
- Peak-to-peak
- —
- Rise time (10–90%)
- —
- Fall time (90–10%)
- —
- Duty cycle
- —
Measurements
Instrument readings
- Measured frequency
- — Oscilloscope frequency measured from the generator output.
- Measured period
- — Average period from oscilloscope threshold crossings.
- Measured RMS
- — RMS voltage calculated from acquired CH1 samples.
- Measured mean
- — Mean voltage calculated from acquired CH1 samples.
- Measured peak-to-peak
- — Maximum minus minimum acquired CH1 voltage.
- Measured duty cycle
- — Fraction of acquired time above the waveform midpoint.
- Measured high level
- — Maximum acquired CH1 voltage.
- Measured low level
- — Minimum acquired CH1 voltage.
Result visualization
Acquisition and cursor checks
Use these numerical acquisition readouts to verify what the graticule shows. Cursor values remain available even when color perception or display size makes the waveform harder to inspect.
- Acquisition window
- —
- Sample rate
- —
- Trigger
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- Cursor Δt
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- Cursor 1/Δt
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- Cursor ΔV
- —
A useful manual check is to place the two time cursors one period apart. The reciprocal of Δt should agree with the automatic frequency measurement within cursor-placement resolution.
Theory
Equations and model
Amplitude and offset
For a symmetric periodic waveform, peak-to-peak amplitude is the difference between the maximum and minimum values. DC offset shifts the entire waveform without changing its peak-to-peak amplitude.
Vhigh = Voffset + Vpp / 2Vlow = Voffset − Vpp / 2Frequency, period, and phase
Frequency describes cycles per second and period describes seconds per cycle. Phase shifts a periodic waveform in time relative to a reference.
T = 1 / fφtime = φdeg / (360 f)Square-wave duty cycle
Duty cycle is the fraction of one period spent in the high state. A 50% square wave spends equal time high and low; changing duty cycle changes the mean value even when high and low levels remain fixed.
D = thigh / T · 100%Independent verification
The oscilloscope receives the waveform model as an electrical source and computes measurements from sampled data. It does not copy the generator readout, which makes the scope a meaningful independent check.
Validation
Independent checks
Generator frequency checkNot run
Compares oscilloscope-measured frequency with the configured generator frequency.
- Expected
- —
- Simulated
- —
- Error
- —
- Tolerance
- 0.5%
Run the experiment to perform this check.
Generator amplitude checkNot run
Compares oscilloscope-measured peak-to-peak voltage with the configured generator amplitude.
- Expected
- —
- Simulated
- —
- Error
- —
- Tolerance
- 0.5%
Run the experiment to perform this check.
Engineering interpretation
Run the experiment to generate an engineering interpretation.
Assumptions and limitations
Assumptions
- The Phase 1.3 generator is an ideal voltage source with deterministic waveform timing.
- Output impedance and load-dependent amplitude are not yet modeled.
- Periodic outputs are mathematically ideal in this source-fundamentals experiment; downstream measurements can layer the shared Phase 1.7 non-ideality model.
- The educational front panel limits output extrema to ±20 V.
Limitations
- Burst, sweep, modulation, arbitrary-waveform memory, sync output, and hardware-specific impedance modes are outside Phase 1.3.
- Rise/fall bandwidth, quantization, noise, calibration error, and output impedance are introduced later through the shared measurement-error model.
- Phase is meaningful relative to a reference signal; this single-generator exercise displays phase mathematically but does not yet provide a second independently adjustable generator channel.
Local experiment export
Phase 1.9Save your measurements and setup
Exports are generated in your browser. No account or server upload is required.
- Settings JSON
- Current parameter values for reproducibility and later project handoff.
- Measurements CSV
- Completed instrument readings with labels, units, and descriptions.
- Plot PNG
- The current canvas-based scope, transient, sweep, or statistics visualization when available.
- Summary
- Markdown report with objectives, setup, measurements, validation, interpretation, assumptions, and graded guided concept-check results.
Ready to export the current local experiment state.
What this experiment should establish
- Generate sine, square, triangle, and DC waveforms from one reusable instrument model.
- Set amplitude, DC offset, frequency, duty cycle, and phase from a virtual front panel.
- Relate peak-to-peak amplitude and offset to the waveform high and low levels.
- Verify the generator output independently with oscilloscope measurements.
- Recognize settings that exceed the virtual generator output range instead of accepting physically invalid combinations.
Questions to answer from the experiment
- Why does changing DC offset move both waveform peaks without changing peak-to-peak amplitude?
- Why does a square wave with a duty cycle other than 50% have a different mean voltage?
- Why is edge triggering not meaningful for a constant DC waveform?
- Why is measuring the generator with a separately modeled oscilloscope more useful than simply displaying the configured values twice?