Engineering Foundation Year

Electrical Systems

Laboratory 0

Safety and the Laboratory Equipment

Objective: In this laboratory students will be introduced to safety regulations in the laboratory and the main
pieces of equipment they will use in the lab. Students should use this lab script to guide their work and
document their progress. There are no submissions associated to Lab 0.
This laboratory is preparation for the labs to come, hence no marks are allocated to it, just learning

Pre-lab activity
Read this lab script in its entirety and start thinking about how you are going to approach it.
Also, read the “Quick Guide on the Use of the Lab Instruments” available in Moodle – Week 2.

Before coming to the lab, students must watch the following videos:
• Lab 0 explained by Cesar Ortega.
• Video on the use of oscilloscopes. (12’ 32”)
• Video on the use of function generators. (2’ 27”)
• Video on the use of multimeters. (17’ 22”)
• Video on the use of bench power supplies. (6’ 21”)
(NOTE: These videos were almost randomly selected from a multitude available. Feel free to explore other
resources that suit your learning preferences.)

Punctuality is an essential attribute of engineers; hence you are expected to be ready to start the lab at the
scheduled time. There will be a 10-minute tolerance to arrive to the lab. After this, the doors will be closed
and you will have to miss your lab session.

Safety briefing
Listen to the safety briefing and sign the attendance sheet as evidence that you will commit to keep a safe
environment in the lab. The lab safety rules are available in the Assessment Guide section in Moodle.

© Cesar Ortega-Sanchez
 Introduction to signals
In the Electrical Systems lab you will use instruments to generate, visualise and measure electrical signals.
Hence it is very important that you understand the different features you can observe and measure in a
signal. Figure 1 shows the main features of a sinusoidal signal. Sinusoidal means it has the same shape as a
sine wave.

Figure 1. Main features of a sinusoidal signal.

Some definitions
(Refer to Figure 1 for reference):
Amplitude: Magnitude of the signal. It can be voltage or current. In graphs oscilloscopes magnitude is
measured in the vertical axis. In Figure 1 magnitude is expressed as “Peak voltage” (Vp), the
voltage from the “zero” to the maximum positive value; and “Peak-to-peak voltage” (Vp-p), the
voltage difference between the maximum and minimum magnitudes.
Period: The time it takes for a signal to repeat itself.
Frequency: The number of times a signal is repeated every second. Frequency is the reciprocal of the period.
1
𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 =
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑

Offset value (Voff): A constant voltage or current added to a signal. In Figure 1 the offset is shown with a line.
In an oscilloscope the offset is seen as an upwards or downwards displacement of a signal.
Phase shift: The time difference (delay) between two signals. In Figure 1 the phase shift is shown as the delay
between the origin of the signal and the zero of the axes. With multiple signals the phase shift
is measured as the time between the zero-crossing of the signals involved.
Zero-crossing: The point in time at which a signal changes from positive to negative, or vice versa. In Figure 1
there are zero-crossings where the signal crosses the horizontal axis.
Oscilloscope: Instrument used to visualise the shape of voltage signals for the purpose of measurement.
Oscilloscopes can be adjusted to change how the signal is displayed, but that does not mean the
signal is changing. Oscilloscopes do not have any effect on the signals they measure. Figure 2
shows the oscilloscope used in the ELEN1000 labs in Bentley.

Figure 2. Oscilloscope

© Cesar Ortega-Sanchez
Multimeter: Instrument used to measure different electrical parameters, for example: voltage, current,
resistance and capacitance. To measure voltage, multimeters must be connected in parallel. To
measure current, multimeters must be connected in series. See Figure 3.

Figure 3. Connection of multimeter

Signal generator: Instrument used to generate voltage signals with different shapes and frequency. The
parameters most frequently adjusted are: amplitude, frequency, offset and shape. Figure 4
shows the signal generators used in the Electrical Systems Lab in Bentley.

Figure 4. Signal generators

© Cesar Ortega-Sanchez
 In-Lab activities

1. Displaying measurements on the oscilloscope

Use the oscilloscope controls to show on the screen the following features of Channel 1. The “Measure”
button will show the menu on the screen.
• Peak-to-peak value
• Maximum
• Mean value
• RMS value
• Frequency
• Period

2. Effects of frequency on the multimeter

(a) Use the signal generator to produce a sinewave signal of 10 Vp-p with zero offset, and complete
the following table with the readings of the multimeter in the AC voltage setting (VRMS). Use the
oscilloscope to verify the amplitude of the signal every time you change the frequency.

Frequency 5 Hz 25 Hz 50 Hz 100 Hz 500 Hz 1 kHz 2 kHz 10 kHz 25 kHz

VRMS

(b) Repeat the experiment using a square signal instead of a sinewave.

Frequency 5 Hz 25 Hz 50 Hz 100 Hz 500 Hz 1 kHz 2 kHz 10 kHz 25 kHz

VRMS

© Cesar Ortega-Sanchez
3. Measuring signals with different features

Use the signal generator and oscilloscope to produce signals with the following features and use them to
complete the table. Use the oscilloscope and the multimeter to measure the AC voltage (RMS value) of
each signal and calculate the Vpeak/VRMS ratio for each measurement. Vpeak = Vp-p/2.

You can measure offset with the multimeter in the DC setting or using the mean value measured by the
oscilloscope.

Tip: to set very small amplitudes with the signal generator you will need to pull the “Amplitude” button.

1 2 3 4 VRMS Vpeak / VRMS

Shape Frequency Amplitude Offset

Oscillosc. Multim. Oscillosc. Multim.

50 Hz 10 Vp-p 0V
Sinewave
2 kHz 0.4 Vp-p 0.5 V

10 Hz 0.5 Vp-p -0.25 V

Square
wave
12.5 kHz 2 Vp-p -1 V

100 Hz 7.5 Vp-p 5V

Triangular
wave
25 kHz 12.5 Vp-p 0V

4. Discuss the following questions with your lab partner.

(a) In what frequency range would you trust the multimeter’s AC measurements.
(b) Under what conditions are the values for VRMS measured by the oscilloscope and the
multimeter different?
(c) What is the smallest amplitude that the signal generator can produce?
(d) What can you conclude from your observations and discussions?

© Cesar Ortega-Sanchez