RC low-pass laboratory 2026-10-18
The University of Colorado Boulder's Lab 3: Filters, §§7.1–7.4, specifies measuring the resistor and capacitor, then driving the assembled RC low-pass filter with a function generator. A two-channel oscilloscope reads actual input and output using high electrical impedance. Sweep the frequency, record the voltage amplitude ratio, and locate . A control compares a cable with a oscilloscope probe on a resistive voltage divider, isolating measurement capacitance before using the probe for the filter. A slow square wave then lets discharge timing estimate the time constant independently. Agreement supports the RC low-pass frequency response; source output impedance, probe loading, and instrument signal bandwidth limit it. These are prescribed measurements, with no measured dataset supplied here.[ref]
The two-channel setup can also test the predicted phase difference directly: for positive frequency , measure the output's time lag between corresponding features of the two sinusoids. For this single-stage model the phase lies between and , so choose the lag within a quarter cycle and calculate . At the cutoff frequency the predicted lag is one eighth of a cycle. This tests the timing part of the frequency response as well as the voltage ratio.