Agilent 33120A User's Guide

Chapter 7 TutorialAttributes of AC SignalsAttributes of AC SignalsThe most common ac signal is the sine wave. In fact, all periodicwaveshapes are composed of sine waves of varying frequency,amplitude, and phase added together. The individual sine waves areharmonically related to each other — that is to say, the sine wavefrequencies are integer multiples of the lowest (or fundamental)frequency of the waveform. Unlike dc signals, the amplitude ofac waveforms varies with time as shown in the following figure.V avgV rmsV pkV pk-pkT ( f = 1 T )A sine wave can be uniquely described by any of the parametersindicated — the peak-to-peak value, peak value, or RMS value,and its period (T) or frequency (1/T).7283