Lab Report #5

Oscilloscope and Transformers Basics

Section #10
Date: 21.02.2021
Group members:
Kuanysh Akhmetzhanov
Nurbek Moldakhmetov
Darkhan Nurzhakyp

Objectives:
● To acquire practical skills of using oscilloscope
● To investigate the basics of transformers
● To study how number of turns in coils affects the voltage

Experimental description:
This laboratory experiment studies the oscilloscope and transformers. In order to do this,
we will use a signal generator (see figure 1) to produce waves and an oscilloscope (see figure 2)
to see their graphs by changing the oscilloscope's properties. In the second part, we will use a
simple coil and iron core to study transformers (see figure 3).
First, on the oscilloscope, we set the time/div knob to 0.5 ms/div and the voltage to 1
V/div. Then, we connect the function generator to the oscilloscope with the BNC cable. On the
function generator we set the output to 1000 Hz sinusoidal waveform and 5 V peak-to-peak.
Final setup step is to set the vertical sensitivity of the scope to 1 V/div and see the function on
the screen (see figure 4).
For the second part of the experiment, we will set the signal generator to 500 Hz and 5 V
peak-to-peak. We will use a yellow coil with 400 turns as a primary coil and blue and grey coils
as secondary ones.

Figure 1. A function generator.

 Figure 2. An oscilloscope in operation.

Figure 3. An example of a transformer.

Figure 4. The initial setup of the oscilloscope.

Experimental data:
Part 1

Table 1. Measurement results for generator and scope.

№ Y-axis, X-axis, Number of Number of Peak-to-peak, Frequency,
Volt/div ms/div divisions, divisions, V kHz
y-axis x-axis

1 1 0.5 5 1.8 5 1

2 1 0.2 5 4.2 5 1

3 0.5 0.2 4.1 4.2 2 1

4 2 0.1 5 4.2 10 2

Part 2

Table 2. Measurement results for transformers.

№ Number of Number of Y-axis, X-axis, Number of Number of
turns in turns in Volt/div ms/div divisions, divisions,
primary coil secondary coil y-axis x-axis

1 400 0 1 0.5 4.6 3.4

2 400 200 0.5 0.5 3.6 3.4

3 400 800 2 0.5 3.6 3.4

Data Analysis:
Part1:
In this part of the experiment Faraday’s Law was used:
𝑁𝑠
𝑉𝑠 = 𝑉𝑝 * (1)
𝑁𝑝
Theoretical values of the laboratory work were obtained by using the Faraday’s Law:

Table 2. Theoretical values

Ns(number of turns) Np(number of turns) Vs(V) Vp(V)

400 400 5 5

400 200 5 2.5

400 800 5 10
Error Analysis:
Voltage amplitude V is equal to
𝑣𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙−𝑣𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 = 𝑣𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙
* 100% (2)
Table 3. Errors of the values

First coil Second coil Experimental Theoretical Percentage loss

value value

400 400 4. 8 ± 0. 2 5 4

400 200 2.32 ± 0.2 2.5 7.2

400 800 9.3 ± 0.2 10 7

Part2:

Figure 1. Amplitude to frequency graph

Discussion:
In this experiment, we examined the oscilloscope in order to obtain practical skills that
helped us to measure the amplitude and frequency of the wave and understand how transformers
work. In the first part of the experiment, touching the inner part of the BNC cable would led to
the detection of the signal by the oscilloscope. The reason why this happened is that the human
body is conductive and is able to conduct electricity through its body. When we touched the
inner part of the cable, there was a small capacitance between the human body and the power
source creating a signal visible on the graph.
Table 3 gives the comparison between theoretical and experimental values of voltage
amplitude and you can see that the percentage loss ranges from 4 to 7 % that shows good
accuracy and efficiency to the extent. The reason why there is a difference between the
theoretical and experimental values is that there are external factors that cannot be eliminated
during experiments that we assume are negligible while we obtain the values in a theoretical way
that leads to the energy losses. In this case, the two coils that were used had an internal resistance
that led to power loss in form of heat. To minimize the power loss due to this reason, coils should
have the minimum resistance with a suitable cross-sectional area. Other properties of the coils,
such as reluctance of the core material, laminations of the core material also affect the extent of
energy losses that could be used in order to increase the preciseness of the results.
Figure 1 shows the relationship between amplitude from the secondary coil and
frequency generator. The shape of the graph can be described as close to the logarithmic
function, where the high change in the frequency of the generator is followed by a comparable
small change in the amplitude of the secondary coil with some oscillation happening around the
range from 2.5 to 2.75 volts.
Conclusion:
At the end of the experiment, we think that we obtained the necessary information and
skills regarding the oscilloscope that helped us in the other parts of the experiment, like
understanding the basics of the transformers and reading the graphs of the signals shown in the
oscilloscope. So, the objectives set for the experiment were met successfully and the
experimental values are close enough to the theoretical (are in the range of 4-7 % difference),
which means that the experiment that was made acquired accurate results. For that reason, it can
be said that the procedure was followed successfully.
Reference:
[1] Manual. Lab 5: Oscilloscope and Transformers Basics, Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan,
Kazakhstan, 2021.
https://moodle.nu.edu.kz/pluginfile.php/362890/mod_resource/content/1/Lab%207%20Manual.p
df
[2] Supplement Manual. Lab 5: Oscilloscope and Function Generator Operation Theory,
Transformers Basics, Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, 2021.
https://moodle.nu.edu.kz/pluginfile.php/362881/mod_resource/content/1/Lab%205%20Theory.d
ocx.pdf