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Instrument

Oscilloscope

Physics

An oscilloscope displays how an electrical signal varies over time by steering a beam onto a screen and tracing its voltage as a moving line. The German physicist Ferdinand Braun built the first cathode-ray oscilloscope in 1897, guiding a narrow stream of electrons with an alternating voltage to trace patterns on a fluorescent screen; Braun shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Guglielmo Marconi, cited for his contributions to wireless telegraphy rather than the oscilloscope itself.

Facts
Invented Year
1897 1
Measures
How an electrical signal's voltage varies over time, displayed as a waveform. 2
Operating Principle
A digital oscilloscope samples the input signal at high speed through an analog-to-digital converter, then reconstructs and displays the waveform from those samples. 2
Resolution
Vertical resolution is set by the analog-to-digital converter's bit depth; general-purpose oscilloscopes can detect signals as small as about 1 millivolt per screen division. 2
Operating Range
Modern instruments reach bandwidths above 3 gigahertz and sample rates up to 10 gigasamples per second. 2
Classification
Instrument Class
Measurement or Metrology Instrument 1
Connections

Invented By

Karl Ferdinand Braun, Scientists

Braun invented the cathode ray tube in 1897; the modern oscilloscope is a later elaboration of his device.

Source Cathode-Ray Oscilloscope (Britannica)

Used In

Physics, Disciplines
Source Cathode-Ray Oscilloscope (Britannica)
Sources
1. Cathode-Ray Oscilloscope (Britannica)
Encyclopaedia Britannica
  • Lede, instrument class
    An oscilloscope displays how an electrical signal varies over time by steering a beam onto a screen and tracing its voltage as a moving line.
  • Used In: Physics
  • Invented By: Karl Ferdinand Braun
  • Encompasses: Cathode-ray Tube
View the Source
2. Evaluating Oscilloscope Bandwidth, Sample Rate, and Performance Specs (Tektronix)
TektronixSample Rate section
Quote, Sample Rate section
bandwidths to 3+ GHz...sample rates to 10 GS/s
View the Source

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