Skip to main content Accessibility Help
Open menu

How to use this resource

Please download the PDF of this resource using the Download PDF link in the banner above.

Below are interactives which support the resource. The interactives can be launched by clicking on the images.

Some resources have pre-requisites; where this is the case, you'll be able to access any required resources through the Pre-requisites section.

Topic areas

Electrical and electronic engineering

  • Voltmeter
  • Sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal waveforms
  • Amplitude
  • Time period
  • Frequency
  • Instantaneous values
  • Peak value
  • Peak-to-peak value
  • Average value
  • Root mean square (rms) value
  • Form factor
  • Phase angle
  • Combining waveforms

Mathematics

  • Square and square roots
  • Basic arithmetic

Pre-requisites

None.

Problem statement

AC waveforms are common in engineering and are found in a wide range of applications such as AC power delivery, instrument measurements, control signals and audio applications. Periodic AC waveforms can be characterised by a number of key parameters that allow an engineer to produce effective designs that work with them.

Additionally, AC waveforms can be manipulated and added to produce new waveforms, a process that can be used to produce active noise cancellation that can protect the ears from noisy plants or prevent external sounds from detracting from spoken instructions or music sent to headphones.

How can AC signals be characterised and added and how can these be useful?

Interactives

Click the image to load AC meters. 

The above interactive can be used to simulate the possible meter and waveform combinations stated in the resource.

Click the image to load AC waveforms. 

The above interactive can be used to investigate the properties of waveforms and compare how they change when the waveform changes, or when waveform properties change, such as period and amplitude.

Click the image to load AC addition.

The above interactive can be used to investigate the addition of two identically shaped waveforms of different amplitutes and with different phase angles.