Review of Related Literature

Oscilloscope

An oscilloscope is a laboratory instrument commonly used to display and analyze the

waveform of electronic signals. In effect, the device draws a graph of the instantaneous
signal voltage as a function of time.

The oscilloscope came right on the heels of the invention of the cathode ray tube. The
initial use of the tubes was to study more about the physics of electrons, but Karl
Ferdinand Braun created the CRT, or analogue, oscilloscope in 1897. He did so by
applying a signal that was oscillating to electrically charged deflector plates in a CRT
coated in phosphor. This was the first application of the device, but with the changes
that came to it over the next few years, they were suddenly much more useful for those
who were making electronics or who were studying physics.

Oscilloscope was invented by a French physicist Andr Blondel, who built and
presented the first electromechanical oscilloscope back in 1893. This device was able to
register values of electrical quantities, such as alternating current intensity. An ink
pendulum attached to a coil recorded this information on a moving paper tape. First
oscilloscopes used several mechanical devices in their work process, which made their
measurements not very accurate and their bandwidth rather small, between 10 and 19
kHz. A big step in the development of oscilloscopes was made in 1897, when a German
physicist Karl Ferdinand Braun invented a cathode ray tube (CRT). A British company
called A. C. Cossor which was the first company in the world that adapted this
technology, presented their first oscilloscope in 1932.

Karl Ferdinand Braun was born on June 6, 1850 at Fulda, where he was educated at
the local "Gymnasium" (grammar school). He studied at the Universities of Marburg and
Berlin and graduated in 1872 with a paper on the oscillations of elastic string

Karl Ferdinand Braun's first investigations were concerned with oscillations of strings
and elastic rods, especially with regard to the influence of the amplitude and
environment of rods on their oscillations. Other studies were based on thermodynamic
principles, such as those on the influence of pressure on the solubility of solids.

His most important works, however, were in the field of electricity. He published papers
on deviations from Ohm's law and on the calculations of the electromotive force of
reversible galvanic elements from thermal sources. His practical experiments led him to
invent what is now called Braun's electrometer, and also a cathode-ray oscillograph,
constructed in 1897.

Andr-Eugne Blondel, a French engineer and physicist, is credited with inventing the
oscilloscope during the latter portion of the 19th century. Early in his career, his legs
became paralyzed but he never stopped working. Over the years, the design by Blondel
evolved with developments in technology, one of which came during the high-tech era.
The analog oscilloscope attaches the voltage level being quantified to the electron ray in
motion on the screen. The current redirects the beam vertically and horizontally,
providing a prompt view of the waveform. A digital oscilloscope changes the voltage
being measured into discrete binary numbers and then uses this digital information to
reconstruct the wave.

Function generator

A function generator is a signal source that has the capability of producing different
types of waveforms as its output signal. The most common output waveforms are sine-
waves, triangular waves, square waves, and sawtooth waves. The frequencies of such
waveforms may be adjusted from a fraction of a hertz to several hundred kHz.

Analog function generator was the first type to be developed. First models invented in
the early 1950s when digital technology was not widely used.
References:

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/oscilloscope

http://analogueoscilloscope.com/who-invented-the-analogue-oscilloscope/

http://toolboom.com/en/Articles-and-Video/Oscilloscopes-History-and-
Classification.html

https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1909/braun-bio.html

https://nationalmaglab.org/education/magnet-academy/history-of-electricity-
magnetism/museum/oscilloscope

http://www.circuitstoday.com/function-generators