University of Anbar Lab.

Name: :fundamental of Electric

circuit
College of Engineering
Experiment no.: 2
Dept. of Electrical Engineering Lab. Supervisor:

Experiment No.11
Frequency and Phase Angle Measurement
Using Cathode Ray Tube
Object
To perform amplitude, frequency, and phase measurements using a calibrated
cathode ray oscilloscope and to make use of Lissajous figures for phase and
frequency measurements.
Theory
 Measurement of Voltage Using CRO
A voltage can be measured by noting the Y deflection produced by the voltage;
using this deflection in conjunction with the Y-gain setting, the voltage can be
calculated as follows:
V = (no. of boxes in cm.) x (selected Volts/cm scale)

 Measurement of Current and Resistance Using a CRO:

Using the general method, a correctly calibrated CRO can be used in conjunction
with a known value of resistance R to determine the current I flowing through the
resistor.

 Measurement of Frequency Using a CRO:

A simple method of determining the frequency of a signal is to estimate its
periodic time from the trace on the screen of a CRT. However, this method has
limited accuracy, and should only be used where other methods are not available.
To calculate the frequency of the observed signal, one has to measure the period,
i.e. the time taken for 1 complete cycle, using the calibrated sweep scale. The
period could be calculated by
T = (no. of squares in cm) x (selected Time/cm scale)
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 University of Anbar Lab. Name: :fundamental of Electric
circuit
College of Engineering
Experiment no.: 2
Dept. of Electrical Engineering Lab. Supervisor:

Once the period T is known, the frequency is given by

f (Hz)= 1/T(sec)

 Measurement of Phase:
The calibrated time scales can be used to calculate the phase shift between two
sinusoidal signals of the same frequency. If a dual trace or beam CRO is
available to display the two signals simultaneously (one of the signals is used for
synchronization), both of the signals will appear in proper time perspective and
the amount of time difference between the waveforms can be measured.
This, in turn can be utilized to calculate the phase angle *, between the two
signals.

Figure.1 Phase shift between two signals

Referring to figure.1, the phase shift can be calculated by the formula;
Phase shift in cm.
 x 360
One period in cm.

Note that the calculation does not involve the actual calibrated Timebase setting.
In fact, the observed waveforms can be varied using the horizontal amplifier
venire adjustment to obtain as many boxes for one full scale as desired. Another

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 University of Anbar Lab. Name: :fundamental of Electric
circuit
College of Engineering
Experiment no.: 2
Dept. of Electrical Engineering Lab. Supervisor:

method for fast calculation is to multiply the scale factor by the phase difference
(in cm) where the scale factor is degrees per box or degrees per cm.

 Use of Lissajous Patterns to Calculate Phase Shift:

Lissajous patterns are obtained on the scope simultaneously by applying the two
sinusoidal inputs to be compared at the vertical and horizontal channels. The
phase shift is then determined using measured values taken from resulting
Lissajous pattern. This pattern on the CRT screen may be either a straight line or
a circle or an ellipse depending on the amount of phase shift.
Figure.2 shows the resulting closed curve if the phase shift is between and. This
pattern is an ellipse (inclined at if the two amplitudes are the same). The angle
of inclination at which the ellipse is generated is of no importance in the phase
angle calculation. Noting that the vertical signal amplitude at instant 1 is

N= ASin (),  can be computed by

  180o - sin-1 ( N / M )
V =ASin(wt+
v
1 1

M
N
2 2 wt


3
3

4 4

1
2 V =BSin(wt)
h
3
4

wt

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 University of Anbar Lab. Name: :fundamental of Electric
circuit
College of Engineering
Experiment no.: 2
Dept. of Electrical Engineering Lab. Supervisor:

Figure.2 Lissajous Pattern

Phase angels between 0o  90o , the ellipse has a positive slope and angle calculated
by the following formula:
  sin1 ( N / M )

The actual scale settings do not change the ratio (N/M). Hence try to get an
ellipse of maximum possible size on the CRO for increased accuracy. For phase
angles of 90180 , the ellipse has a negative slope and the angle calculated by the
above method must be subtracted from 180 to obtain the phase shift. Phase
angles between 180270 result in Lissajous patterns similar to those for
 : 90 -180, and cannot be directly distinguished. One technique for determining,
if the phase shift is less or more than 180, is to add an extra slight phase shift to
the signal Vv. If the phase angle measured increases, then the angle is less than
180. If it decreases, the angle is greater than 180. Figure 3 shows how to compute
the required phase angle.

 =180-sin(N/M)
-1 -1
 =sin(N/M)

II I

III IV

 =180+sin(N/M)  =360-sin(N/M)
-1 -1

Figure.3 Phase angle calculation in 4 quadrants

 Use of Lissajous Patterns for Frequency Measurements:

If a well calibrated CRO Timebase is not available, a signal generator can be
used to measure the frequency of an unknown sinusoidal signal. It is connected
to the vertical channel (or horizontal) and the calibrated signal source is fed to
the horizontal channel (or vertical). The frequency of the signal generator is
adjusted so that a steady Lissajous pattern is obtained. The Lissajous pattern can
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 University of Anbar Lab. Name: :fundamental of Electric
circuit
College of Engineering
Experiment no.: 2
Dept. of Electrical Engineering Lab. Supervisor:

be very involved to analyze. However, for the frequency measurement, all that is
needed is the number of tangencies (points at the edge of arcs) along the vertical
and horizontal lines.
The frequency relationship between the horizontal and vertical inputs is given by;
fh No. of tangencies (vertical)

fv No. of tangencies (horizontal)

from which fv, the unknown frequency can be calculated.

Procedure
1. The Lissajous pattern shown in figure.4 is observed on the CRT screen. Find
the phase shift between the signals applied to the X and Y inputs of the scope.
y(cm .)
4

x(cm .)
2 4

Figure.4
2. Figure 5 shows a Lissajous pattern observed on the CRT screen. Determine
the frequency relationship between the signals applied to the X and Y inputs
of the scope.

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 University of Anbar Lab. Name: :fundamental of Electric
circuit
College of Engineering
Experiment no.: 2
Dept. of Electrical Engineering Lab. Supervisor:

Figure.5
3. Two sinusoidal inputs having the same amplitudes but different period, are
applied to the X and Y inputs of the CRO. Draw the Lissajous pattern which
will be observed on the CRT, for Ty  4Tx .
4. The signals given V1 and V2 are applied to the X and Y inputs of the scope.
Sketch the Lissajous pattern and calculate the phase difference between the
two signals.
V1  10Cos( wt )
V2  15Sin ( wt  180)

Discussion
1. Set-up the circuit shown in figure.6, connect the probes to the indicated points.
Measure the phase angles between these two signals and draw them.
X

15V 3.3K
p-p

10KHz Y

0.22 F

GND

Figure.6
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 University of Anbar Lab. Name: :fundamental of Electric
circuit
College of Engineering
Experiment no.: 2
Dept. of Electrical Engineering Lab. Supervisor:

2. Set-up the circuit shown in figure below, connect the probes to the indicated
points. Measure the phase angles between these two signals and draw them.
X

3.3K
15V
p-p
100Hz 0.22  F

2.2K

GND