Unit - 5

ELECTRIC HEATING
5.1 Introduction

• Electric heating is a process in which electrical energy is converted to heat.

• When current is passed through a conductor, the conductor becomes hot (resistance heating).
• When a magnetic material is brought in the vicinity of an alternating magnetic field, heat is
produced in the magnetic material (induction heating).
• When an electrically insulating material was subjected to electrical stresses; it too underwent a
temperature rise (dielectric heating).
• All heating requirements in domestic purposes such as cooking, room heater, immersion water
heaters and electric toasters and also in industrial purposes such as welding, melting of metals,
tempering, hardening, and drying can be met easily by electric heating over the other forms of
conventional heating.

5.2 Advantages and disadvantages of electric heating

(a) Advantages

The various advantages of electric heating over other the types of heating are:
• Economical: Electric heating equipment is cheaper; they do not require much skilled persons;
therefore, maintenance cost is less.
• Cleanliness: Since dust and ash are completely eliminated in the electric heating, it keeps
surroundings clean.
• Pollution free: As there are no flue gases in the electric heating, atmosphere around is pollution
free; no need of providing space for their exit.
• Ease of control: In this heating, temperature can be controlled and regulated accurately either
manually or automatically.
• Uniform heating: The substance can be heated uniformly throughout whether it may be
conducting or non-conducting material.
• High efficiency: In non-electric heating, only 40-60% of heat is utilized but in electric heating
75-100% of heat can be successfully utilized. So, overall efficiency of electric heating is very
high.
• Automatic protection: Protection against over current and overheating can be provided by
using control devices.
• Heating of non-conducting materials: The heat developed in the non-conducting materials
such as wood and porcelain is possible only through the electric heating.
• Better working conditions: No irritating noise is produced with electric heating and also
radiating losses are low.
• Less floor area: Due to the compactness of electric furnace, floor area required is less.
• High temperature: High temperature can be obtained by the electric heating except the ability
of the material to withstand the heat.
(b) Disadvantages
• The cost of electricity makes it expensive to use as a heating fuel.
• With space heaters, we can't easily provide central filtration, humidification or cooling.
• The electrical hazard of shock and fire caused by electricity is an issue.
• There are a cost associated with Electric heat requires a larger electrical service than normal.

5.3 Modes of transfer of heat

• The transmission of the heat energy from one body to another because of the temperature
gradient takes place by any of the following methods:

(a) Conduction
• One molecule of substance gets heated and transfers the heat to the adjacent one and so on.
• In this mode, the heat transfers from one part of substance to another part without the
movement in the molecules of substance. The rate of the conduction of heat along the substance
depends upon the temperature gradient.
• It may be expressed in [MJ/h/m2/m] or[W/cm2/cm]

Where t=Plat thickness in m

A=X-sectional area of its two parallel face in m2
T1 & T2=Temperature of two face in °C
T=duration of heat transfer in hr
K=Co-efficient of thermal conductivity for the material in MJ/m2/m/°C/hr

• Ex: Refractory heating, the heating of insulating materials, etc.

(b) Convection
• In this mode, the heat transfer takes place from one part to another part of substance or fluid
due to the actual motion of the molecules. The rate of heat depends mainly on the difference in
the fluid density at different temperatures.
• The quantity of heat absorbed from the heater by convection are depends on temperature of the
heating element above the surrounding, size of surface of heater, on the position of heater.
b
• Heat dissipated H=a(T1-T2) in W/m2
Where a & b are constant (depends on heating surface)
T1 & T2 are the temperature of the heating surface and fluid in °C
• Ex: Immersion water heater.

(c) Radiation
• In this mode, the heat transfers from source to the substance to be heated without heating the
medium in between. It is dependent on surface.
• Rate of heat radiation is given by Stefan’s law.
Heat dissipation
Where, T1=Temperature of source of heat in °C
T2= Temperature of substance to be heated in °C
K=Constant known as radiant efficiency e=emissivity

• Ex: Solar heaters.

5.4 Essential requirements of good heating element

The materials used for heating element should have the following properties:
• High-specific resistance: Material should have high-specific resistance so that small length of
wire may be required to provide given amount of heat.
• High-melting point: It should have high-melting point so that it can withstand for high
temperature, a small increase in temperature will not destroy the element.
• Low temperature coefficient of resistance: the radiant heat is proportional to fourth powers of
the temperatures; it is very efficient heating at high temperature. For accurate temperature
control, the variation of resistance with the operating temperature should be very low. This can
be obtained only if the material has low temperature coefficient of resistance.
• Free from oxidation: The element material should not be oxidized when it is subjected to high
temperatures; otherwise the formation of oxidized layers will shorten its life.
• High-mechanical strength: The material should have high-mechanical strength and should
withstand for mechanical vibrations.
• Non-corrosive: The element should not corrode when exposed to atmosphere or any other
chemical fumes.
•Economical: The cost of material should not be so high.

5.5 Classification of electric heating method

Figure 3.1 Classification of Electric Heating

5.6 Electric heating can be broadly classified under two categories:
(a) Power frequency heating in which the furnace operates with 50Hz AC supply.
(b) High frequency heating in which special high frequency generators is essential, e.g. dielectric
heating, induction heating.

(A) Power frequency heating

1. Resistance heating
(i) Direct resistance heating
• The electric current is made to pass through the substance to be heated or charge
itself. The electric current while passing through charge products I2R loss which
appears in the form of the heat thus charge is heated up.
• Few examples of this heating method are resistance welding, electrode boiler for
heating water, salt bath furnace.
(ii) Indirect resistance heating
• Current is passed through heating element and I2R loss is produced which appears in
the form of heat.
• This heat is passed on to the substance or charge to be heated by radiation and
convection.
• e.g. room heater, hair drier, soldering iron, immersion water heater, hot plate, frying
pan, electric oven etc.
(iii) Radiant or Infrared heating
• Heat energy from an electric lamp is focused on the charge to be heated.
• The heat energy is transferred through electromagnetic radiations.
• This is used for drying the paint on objects.

2. Arc heating
(i) Direct arc heating
• An arc is made to strike between electrodes and charge itself.
• The heat energy of arc is absorbed by the charge and thus heating is done.
(ii) Indirect arc heating
• An arc is made to strike between two electrodes.
• The heat of arc is then passed on to the charge through radiation.

3. Electron bombardment heating

Bombardment of electron causes heating.

(B) High frequency heating

1. Dielectric heating
Dielectric loss is produced in the charge itself when it is subjected to alternating electric field.
This dielectric loss appears in the form of heat thus charge is heated up.
Principle of dielectric heating
• Dielectric heating is also sometimes called as high frequency capacitance heating. if non
metallic materials i.e., insulators such as wood, plastics, china clay, glass, ceramics etc are
subjected to high voltage AC current, their temperature will increase in temperature is due to the
conversion of dielectric loss into heat.
• The supply frequency required for dielectric heating is between 10-50 MHz and applied voltage
is 20 kV.
• The overall efficiency of dielectric heating is about 50%.
• When a capacitor is subjected to a sinusoidal voltage, the current drawn by it is never leading
the voltage by exactly 90°. The angle between the current and the voltage is slightly less with the
result that there is a small in-phase component of the current which produces power loss in the
dielectric of the capacitor.
• At ordinary frequency of 50 Hz such loss may be small enough to be negligible but at high
frequencies the loss becomes large enough to heat the dielectric. It is this loss that is utilized in
heating the dielectric.
• The insulating material is placed in between two conducting plates in order to form a parallel
plate capacitor shown in figure 3.14.
• The dielectric loss is dependent upon the frequency and high voltage. Therefore for obtaining
high heating effect high voltage at high frequency is usually employed.
• The charge to be heated is placed between two sheet type electrodes which form a capacitor.

This power is converted into heat. Since for a given insulation material C and δ are constant, the
dielectric loss α V2f.
• Advantages:
o Uniform heating is obtained.
o Running cost is low.
o Non conducting materials are heated within a short period.
o Easy heat control.
o With increase in frequency the heating becomes faster.
o Inflammable articles like plastics and wooden products can be safely heated.

• Disadvantages:
o High installation cost. So preferred where other methods are not possible.

• Applications:
o Food processing.
o Wood processing.
o Drying purpose in textile industry.
o Electronic sewing.
o Dehydration of foods.
o Vulcanizing of rubber.
o Drying of explosives.
o Heating of tissues and bones of body required for the treatment of certain types of pains and
diseases.
o Removal of moisture from oil.

Applications of Dielectric Heating:

The cost of the equipment required for dielectric heating is so high that it is employed
only where other methods are impracticable or too slow.

Some of the applications of dielectric heating are given below:

1. Preheating of Plastic Preforms:

The raw material in the form of tablets or biscuits, commonly called plastic preforms, is required
to be heated uniformly before putting them into the hot moulds so that whole mass becomes fluid
at a time, otherwise if the raw material is put directly into the moulds, usually heated by steam,
the outer skin of the preforms will become hot and start curing while the core of the material has
not reached fluid temperature resulting in unequal hardening of the plastic and improper filling
of moulds corners.
Difficulty arises due to the fact that plastic raw material once cured cannot be softened again
satisfactorily. Any method of heating depending upon conduction of heat from surface to the
core would miserably fail because plastic is bad conductor of heat.
Dielectric heating is the only method which can be used for preheating of plastic preforms to
proper temperature uniformly.
2. Gluing of Wood:
Dielectric heating is most commonly used for gluing of wooden sheets or boards as in this
method of gluing the moisture contents of the wooden sheets remain unaltered. It is due to the
fact that heat can be applied to the desired surface. Main difficulty in using animal glues is of
long curing time and that parts to be joined are to be kept under mechanical pressure after
application of glue for a period of about 24 hours. Mechanical pressure may be applied in gluing
of wood by dielectric heating in order to secure better adhesion. Because of higher loss factor of
glue as compared to that of wood most of the heat developed goes into the glue and very little
heat is wasted.

High frequency dielectric heating is very economical for obtaining curved wood sections such as
furniture. The curves obtained by this method are stable.

3. Baking of Foundary Cores:

In foundaries resin type thermosetting binders are employed as they set almost instantaneously
when brought to polymerizing temperature. The dielectric heating evaporates water rapidly from
the core mix and at the same time raises the temperature of the core material to polymerization
point. Hence dielectric heating is most suitable for baking foundary cores mixed with
thermosetting resin type core
binders.
4. Diathermy:
Dielectric heating is also employed for heating tissues and bones of the body required for the
treatment of certain types of pains and diseases.
5. Sterlization:
The dielectric heating is quite suitable for sterilization of bandages, absorbent cotton, sterile
gauge, instruments etc.

6. Textile Industry:
In textile industry the dielectric heating is employed for drying purposes.
7. Electronic Sewing:
Nowadays rain coats, umbrellas, food containers, medicine containers etc. are made from plastic
film materials. In case of ordinary stitching by thread they will be no longer water tight and also
become weak at seam. With adhesives curing times will be longer. In case of electronic sewing
the films to be stitched are rolled in between cold rollers to which radio-frequency voltage is
applied. The heat produced in the material seals it all along the line where mechanical pressure is
applied. The cold rollers prevent the outer surface of the films from being softened.
8. Food Processing:
The use of dielectric heating for food processing is one of the most modern methods. It has
brought many advantages for the food processing industry and has set forth such processes which
are outside the realm of cooking.

The dielectric heating can be appreciably employed for the following purposes:

(a) Pasteurizing of milk and beer inside bottles.

(b) Dehydrating of fruits, milk, cream, vegetables and eggs etc.
(c) Cooking of foods without removing the outer shells.
(d) Defrosting of frozen foods such as meat and vegetables.
(e) Germicidal heating-In dielectric heating process the products do not loose flavour.

2. Induction Heating:
Induction heating principle has been used in manufacturing processes since the 1920s.
As it’s said that – necessity is the mother of invention, during world war-2, the need for a fast
process to harden the parts of the metal engine, has developed induction heating technology
rapidly. Today we see the application of this technology in our day to day requirements.
Recently, the need for improved quality control and safe manufacturing techniques has brought
this technology into the limelight once again. With today’s high end technologies, new and
reliable methods for implementation of induction heating are being introduced.

In this method, current are induced in the charge by electromagnetic induction action and
circulation of these currents in the charge causes its heating. This is used in metallurgical
industries for melting the metals.
(i) Direct induction heating
• Currents are induced in the charge by electromagnetic induction action in case of steel
and other metals these currents are sufficient enough to melt the metals.
• The equipment used for melting is known as induction furnace and processes used for
general heat treatment of metals is known as eddy current heating.
(ii) Indirect induction heating
• Eddy currents are induced in the heating element by electromagnetic induction, the
heat so produced is transferred to the charge by radiation and convection and certain heat
treatment methods for metals make use of this method.

What is Induction Heating?

The working principle of the induction heating process is a combined recipe of Electromagnetic
induction and Joule heating. Induction heating process is the noncontact process of heating an
electrically conductive metal by generating eddy currents within the metal, using electromagnetic
induction principle. As the generated eddy current flows against the resistivity of the metal, by
the principle of Joule heating, heat is generated in the metal.
How Induction Heating Works?
Knowing the Faraday’s law is very useful for understanding the working of induction heating.
According to Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction, changing the electric field in the
conductor gives rise to an alternating magnetic field around it, whose strength depends on the
magnitude of the applied electric field. This principle also works vice-versa when the magnetic
field is changed in the conductor.
So, the above principle is used in the inductive heating process. Here a solid state RF frequency
power supply is applied to an inductor coil and the material to be heated is placed inside the coil.
When Alternating current is passed through the coil, an alternating magnetic field is generated
around it as per Faraday’s law. When the material placed inside the inductor comes in the range
of this alternating magnetic field, eddy current is generated within the material.
Now the principle of Joule heating is observed. According to this when a current is passed
through a material heat is generated in the material. So, when current is generated in the material
due to the induced magnetic field, the flowing current produces heat from within the material.
This explains the process of non-contact inductive heating.

The setup used for the induction heating process consists of an RF power supply to provide the
alternating current to the circuit. A copper coil is used as inductor and current is applied to it.
The material to be heated is placed inside the copper coil.
By altering the strength of the applied current, we can control the heating temperature. As the
eddy current produced inside the material flows opposite to the electrical resistivity of the
material, precise and localized heating is observed in this process. Besides eddy current, heat is
also generated due to hysteresis in magnetic parts. The electrical resistance offered by a magnetic
material, towards the changing magnetic field within the inductor, cause internal friction.
This internal friction creates heat. As the induction heating process is a non-contact heating
process, the material to be heated can be present away from the power supply or submerged in a
liquid or in any gaseous environments or in a vacuum. This type of heating process doesn’t
require any combustion gases.

Factors to be Considered While Designing Induction Heating System

There are some factors that should be considered while designing an induction heating system
for any type of applications.
Normally, the induction heating process is used for metals and conductive materials. The non –
conductive material can be heated directly.
While applied on magnetic materials, heat is generated both by eddy current and hysteresis effect
of magnetic materials.
Small and Thin materials are heated quickly compared to large and thick materials.
Higher the frequency of the alternating current, lower the heating depth of penetration.
Materials of higher resistivity are heated quickly.
The inductor in which the heating material is to be placed should allow easy insertion and
removal of the material.
While calculating power supply capacity, the specific heat of the material to be heated, the mass
of the material and the temperature rise required are to be considered.
The heat loss due to conduction, convection, and radiation should also be taken into account for
deciding the power supply capacity.

Induction Heating Formula

The depth penetrated by eddy current into the material is determined by the frequency of the
inductive current. For current carrying layers, the effective depth can be calculated as
D=5000 √ρ/μf
Here d indicates depth (cm), the relative magnetic permeability of the material is denoted by μ, ρ
the resistivity of the material in ohm-cm, f indicates ac field frequency in Hz.

Induction Heating Coil Design

The coil used as an inductor, to which power is applied comes in various forms. The induced
current in the material is proportional to the number of turns in the coil. Thus, for the
effectiveness and efficiency of the induction heating, the coil design is important.

Usually, induction coils are water-cooled copper conductors. There are different shapes of coils
used, based on our applications. The multi-turn helical coil is most commonly used. For this coil,
the width of the heating pattern is defined by the number of turns in the coil. Single-turn coils are
useful for applications where heating of narrow band of workpiece or tip of the material is
required.
The multi-position helical coil is used for heating more than one workpieces. Pancake coil is
used when it is required to heat only one side of the material. The internal coil is used for heating
internal bores.

Applications of Inductive Heating

 Targeted heating for surface heating, melting, soldering is possible with the inductive
heating process.
 Besides metals, heating of liquid conductors and gaseous conductors is possible by
inductive heating.
 For heating of silicon in semiconductor industries, the inductive heating principle is used.
 This process is used in inductive furnaces for to heat metal to its melting point.
 As this is a contactless heating process, vacuum furnaces make use of this process for
making specialized steel and alloys that would get oxidized when heated in the presence
of oxygen.
 Induction heating process is used for welding of metals and sometimes plastics when they
are doped with ferromagnetic ceramics.
 Induction stoves used in the kitchen works on the inductive heating principle.
 For brazing carbide to shaft induction heating process is used.
 For tamper resistant cap sealing on bottles and pharmaceuticals, the induction heating
process is used.
 Plastic injection modeling machine uses induction heating to improve energy efficiency
for injection.
 Cathode Ray Oscilloscope

The cathode Ray Oscilloscope or mostly called as CRO is an electronic device used for giving
the visual indication of a signal waveform.
It is an extremely useful and the most versatile instrument in the electronic industry.
CRO is widely used for trouble shooting radio and television receivers as well as for laboratory
research and design.
Using a CRO , the wave shapes of alternating currents and voltages can be studied. It can also
be used for measuring voltage, current, power, frequency and phase shift. Different types of
oscilloscopes are available in the market for various purposes.
Block Diagram of CRO (Cathode Ray Oscilloscope)
The figure below shows the block diagram of a general purpose CRO .

As we can see from the above figure above, a CRO employs a cathode ray tube ( CRT) ,which
acts as the heart of the oscilloscope.
In an oscilloscope, the CRT generates the electron beam which are accelerated to a high velocity
and brought to focus on a fluorescent screen. This screen produces a visible spot where the
electron beam strikes it. By deflecting the beam over the screen in response to the electrical
signal, the electrons can be made to act as an electrical pencil of light which produces a spot of
light wherever it strikes.
For accomplishing these tasks various electrical signals and voltages are needed, which are
provided by the power supply circuit of the oscilloscope.
Low voltage supply is required for the heater of the electron gun to generate the electron beam
and high voltage is required for the cathode ray tube to accelerate the beam. Normal voltage
supply is required for other control units of the oscilloscope.
Horizontal and vertical deflection plates are fitted between the electron gun and the screen so
that these can deflect the beam according to the input signal.
To deflect the electron beam on the screen in horizontal direction i.e. X-axis with constant time
dependent rate, a time base generator is provided in the oscilloscope.
The signal to be viewed is supplied to the vertical deflection plate through the vertical amplifier,
so that it can amplify the signal to a level that will provide usable deflection of the electron
beam.
As the electron beam is deflected in X-axis as well as Y-axis, a triggering circuit is provided for
synchronizing these two types of deflections so that horizontal deflection starts at the same point
of the input vertical signal each time it sweeps.
Since CRT is the heart of the oscilloscope, we are going to discuss its various components in
detail.

Cathode Ray Tube

Definition: The CRT is a display screen which produces images in the form of the video signal.
It is a type of vacuum tube which displays images when the electron beam through electron
guns are strikes on the phosphorescent surface. In other Words, the CRT generates the beams,
accelerates it at high velocity and deflect it for creating the images on the phosphorous screen
so that the beam becomes visible.

Working of CRT
The working of CRT depends on the movement of electrons beams. The electron guns generate
sharply focused electrons which are accelerated at high voltage. This high velocity electron beam
when strikes on the fluorescent screen creates luminous spot

After exiting from the electron gun, the beam passes through the pairs of electrostatic deflection
plate. These plates deflected the beams when the voltage applied across it.
The one pair of plate moves the beam upward and the second pair of plate moves the beam from
one side to another. The horizontal and vertical movement of the electron are independent of
each other, and hence the electron beam positioned anywhere on the screen.
The working parts of a CRT are enclosed in a vacuum glass envelope so that the emitted electron
can easily move freely from one end of the tube to the other.
The Electrons Gun Assembly, Deflection Plate Assembly, Fluorescent Screen, Glass Envelope,
Base are the important parts of the CRT. The electron gun emits the electron beam, and through
deflecting plates, it is strikes on the phosphorous screen. The detail explanation of their parts is
explained below.

Now we will discuss each part of the CRT in detail.

(i) Glass Envelope
It is a conical highly evacuated glass housing which maintains vacuum inside it and supports
various electrodes.
The inner wall of CRT between the neck and screen are usually coated with a conducting
material known as aquadag. This coating is electrically connected to the accelerating anode so
that the electrons which accidentally strike the walls are returned to the anode. This prevents the
walls from charging to a high negative potential.
(ii) Electron Gun Assembly
The electron gun assembly consists of an indirectly heated cathode, a control grid, a focussing
anode and an accelerating anode and it is used to produce a focused beam of electrons.
The control grid is held at negative potential w.r.t. cathode. However, the two anodes are held at
high positive potential w.r.t. cathode.
The cathode consists of a nickel cylinder coated with oxide coating and provides a large number
of electrons.
The control grid encloses the cathode and consists of a metal cylinder with a tiny circular
opening to keep the electron beam small.
By controlling the positive potential on it,the focusing anode focuses the electron beam into a
sharp pin point.
Due to the positive potential of about 10,000 V on the accelerating anode which is much larger
than on the focusing diode, the electron beam is accelerated to a high velocity.
In this way, the electron gun assembly forms a narrow, accelerated electron beam which
produces a spot of light when it strikes the screen.
(iii) Deflection Plate Assembly
It consists of two sets of deflecting plates within the tube beyond the accelerating anode and is
used for the deflection of the beam.
One set is called as vertical deflection plates and the other set is called horizontal deflection
plates.
The vertical deflection plates are mounted horizontally in the tube. On application of proper
potential to these plates, the electron beam can be made to move up and down vertically on the
screen.
The horizontal deflection plates are mounted vertically in the tube. On application of proper
potential to these plates, the electron beam can be made to move right and left horizontally on the
screen.
(iv) Screen
The screen is coated with some fluorescent materials such as zinc orthosilicate, zinc oxide etc
and is the inside face of the tube.
When high velocity electron beam strikes the screen, a spot of light appears at the point of
impact. The colour of the spot depends upon the nature of fluorescent material.

Working of Cathode Ray Tube

As the cathode is heated, it produces a large number of electrons. These electrons pass through
the control grid on their way to the screen. The control grid controls the amount of current flow
as in standard vacuum tubes. If negative potential on the control grid is high, fewer electrons will
pass through it. Hence the electron beam will produce a dim spot of light on striking the screen.
Reverse will happen when the negative potential on the control grid is reduced.
Therefore, the intensity of the light spot on the screen can be controlled by changing the negative
potential on the control grid.
After leaving the control grid, the electron beam comes under the influence of focusing and
accelerating anodes. Since, the two anodes are at high positive potential, therefore, they produce
a field which acts as electrostatic lens to converge the electron beam at a point on the screen.
After leaving the accelerating anode, the electron beam comes under the influence of vertical and
horizontal deflection plates.
When no voltage is applied to these deflection plates, the electron beam produces a spot of light
at the centre as shown by point O in fig below on the screen.

If the voltage is applied to the vertical deflection plates only, the electron beam and so as the spot
of light will be deflected upwards i.e. point O1. Ans if the potential on the plates is reversed, the
spot of light will be deflected downwards i.e. point O2. Similarly, the spot of light can be
deflected horizontally by applying voltage across the horizontal deflection plates.

Measurement of Voltage Current and Frequency by Oscilloscope:

Normally, an oscilloscope is an important tool in an electrical field which is used to display the
graph of an electrical signal as it varies with respect to time. But some of the scopes have
additional features apart from their fundamental use. Many oscilloscopes have the measurement
tool that help us to measure waveform characteristics like frequency, voltage, amplitude, and
many more features with accuracy. Generally, a scope can measure time-based as well as
voltage-based characteristics.
Voltage Measurement
The oscilloscope is mainly voltage oriented device or we can say that it is a voltage measuring
device. Voltage, current and resistance all are internally related to each other.
Just measure the voltage, rest of the values is obtained by calculation. Voltage is the amount of
electric potential between two points in a circuit. It is measured from peak-to-peak amplitude
which measures the absolute difference between the maximum point of signal and its minimum
point of the signal. The scope displays exactly the maximum and minimum voltage of the signal
received. After measuring all high and low voltage points, scope calculates the average of the
minimum and maximum voltage. But you must be careful to mention which voltage you mean.
Normally, oscilloscope has fixed input range, but this can be easily increased with the use of
simple potential divider circuit.

Method to Measure Voltage

1. The simplest way to measure signal is to set the trigger button to auto that means oscilloscope
start to measure the voltage signal by identifying the zero voltage point or peak voltage by itself.
As any of these two points identified the oscilloscope triggers and measure the range of the
voltage signal.
2. Vertical and horizontal controls are adjusted so that the displayed image of the sine wave is
clear and stable. Now take measurements along the center vertical line which has the smallest
divisions. Reading of the voltage signal will be given by vertical control.

Peak-Peak Amplitude= number of vertical divisions x (V/div )

Current Measurement
Electrical current cannot be measured directly by an oscilloscope. However, it could be
measured indirectly within scope by attaching probes or resistors. Resistor measures the voltage
across the points and then substituting the value of voltage and resistance in Ohm’s law and
calculates the value of electrical current. Another easy way to measure current is to use a clamp-
on current probe with an oscilloscope.
Method to Measure Current
1. Attach a probe with the resistor to an electrical circuit. Make sure that resistor’s power rating
should be equal or greater than the power output of the system.
2. Now take the value of resistance and plug into Ohm’s Law to calculate the current.
According to Ohm’s Law,

Frequency Measurement
Frequency can be measured on an oscilloscope by investigating the frequency spectrum of a
signal on the screen and making a small calculation. Frequency is defined as the several times a
cycle of an observed wave takes up in a second. The maximum frequency of a scope can
measure may vary but it always in the 100’s of MHz range. To check the performance of
response of signals in a circuit, scope measures the rise and fall time of the wave.

Method to Measure Frequency

1. Increase the vertical sensitivity to get the clear picture of the wave on the screen without
chopping any of its amplitude off.
2. Now adjust the sweep rate in such a way that screen displays a more than one but less than
two complete cycles of the wave.
3. Now count the number of divisions of one complete cycle on the graticule from start to end.
4. Now take horizontal sweep rate and multiply it with the number of units that you counted for a
cycle. It will give you the period of the wave. The period is the number of seconds each
repeating waveform takes. With the help of period, you can simply calculate the frequency in
cycles per second (Hertz).

Frequency= 1/ Time Hz
Time period(T)= Number of horizontal divisions x ( t/div)
F= 1/T Hz

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