oscilloscope
ALTERNATIVE NAME/S: cathode-ray oscilloscope
DETAILS/DESCRIPTION: The oscilloscope is an electronic display generated by a cathode ray tube. It shows on a screen patterns representing electrical signals. These usually relate to time and voltage displayed on two axes and generally looking like a graph.
In a glass tube containing a vacuum, an electron gun fires a beam of electrons at the fluorescent wall at other end of the tube (the screen). The beam produces a dot of fluorescence. Signals input to the gun and representing change in time or voltage are applied to the beam of electrons to deflect it horizontally and vertically to produce the luminous graph-pattern on the screen, showing change in voltage over time.
The oscilloscope is generally used to check the behavior of devices in use in engineering, commercial and scientific activity, so it is a widely used test instrument.
It was invented in 1897 by German physicist Ferdinand Braun*.
ONELINER: The oscilloscope
OTHR CONNECTIONS: None
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Encyclopedia Britannica
Dictionary of Scientific Biography