Built-in project · no microcontroller

RL filter on the scope

A signal generator into an inductor and a resistor with both ends on a two-channel scope: the RL corner frequency, drawn. There is no microcontroller in it: the simulator solves the 4 parts as a circuit, so it runs the moment you press Run, and nothing needs compiling.

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RL filter on the scopelive0.000 s 0.00x
Click to open it in the editor
The circuit itself, running here on the simulator. Press what can be pressed; click anything else to open it in the editor.

How it works

There is no microcontroller in this one, so nothing is compiled: the simulator solves the circuit itself. The file in the editor is the notes that come with it.

sketch.ino
// A generator into an RL low pass, both ends on the scope.
//
// L = 160 mH, R = 1 k. The corner is where the inductor's reactance equals
// the resistance:
//
//   f0 = R / (2 pi L) = 1000 / (2 pi x 0.16) = 995 Hz
//
// The generator is set to 1 kHz, as good as on the corner, so the filtered
// trace (blue, CH2) comes out at
//
//   |H| = 1 / sqrt(1 + (2 pi f L / R)^2) = 0.705
//
// of the yellow one, and an eighth of a cycle behind it. Count the divisions:
// 2 V/div vertically, 400 us/div across.
//
// Things to try. Take the frequency to 100 Hz and the two traces sit on top
// of each other; take it to 10 kHz and the blue one is down by ten. Swap the
// resistor and the inductor and it is a high pass. Halve L and the corner
// doubles: an inductor's reactance grows with frequency, which is the whole
// difference from the capacitor in the RC example, whose reactance shrinks.

Parts list

5 parts, plus the jumper wires. Every one is in the editor's parts bin.

How it is wired

3 connections, pin by pin, read from the circuit itself. Each line is one set of pins joined together, by a jumper wire or a breadboard strip.

  • Ground: Signal generator pin GND; Resistor, 1k Ω pin 2; Oscilloscope pin GND
  • Signal generator pin OUT; Inductor pin 1; Oscilloscope pin CH1
  • Inductor pin 2; Resistor, 1k Ω pin 1; Oscilloscope pin CH2

Change it and keep it

Open it in the editor, change the circuit or the code, and keep your version in a free account.