Skip to content

Wave Generator

Introduction to Waves

A wave is a physical phenomenon characterized by its frequency, wavelength, and amplitude. In general, waves transfer energy from one location to another, in which case they have a velocity.

Wave Amplitude and Length

Standing waves may also occur; these have no net velocity and involve no net transfer of energy. They have frequency, wavelength, and amplitude.

Mechanical waves require a medium to travel through: for example, sound waves and earthquake waves cannot travel through a vacuum. Electromagnetic waves, such as light, do not require a medium and can travel through a vacuum.

Transverse waves, such as light, oscillate perpendicular to the direction the wave is carrying energy as in the diagram above. Longitudinal waves, such as sound, oscillate parallel to the direction of energy transfer.

How to use the Wave Generator

Analog Wave Generator Digital Wave Generator

You can use the PSLab to generate both analog and digital waves to test circuits.

  1. Connect the Pins:
  2. Analog mode: Connect the SI1 and SI2 pins on the PSLab board to the CH1 and CH2 pins respectively to view them on the oscilloscope.
  3. Digital mode: Connect the SQ1, SQ2, SQ3 pins to the CH1, CH2, CH3 pins respectively.
  4. Open the Wave Generator instrument in the PSLab app.
  5. Select either Digital or Analog mode.
  6. Set the desired frequency, phase, and duty cycle (in the case of Digital mode) values for Wave1 and Wave2 (Analog mode) or SQ1, SQ2, SQ3 (Digital mode).
  7. Select either a sine or triangular wave shape for SI1 and SI2 in analog mode.
  8. Use the Play button to directly launch the Oscilloscope or Logic Analyzer and view the waves you just generated.
  9. Use the Save button to store the wave configurations for later use.

Experiment: Generate Sounds with Waves

Experiment: Blinking LEDs with the Wave Generator

(Instructions coming soon)