Sine, Square, Triangle waveforms (generator) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Jane
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2014, 07:36:18 am
content: Can anyone explain where to use sine waveforms,and where triangle waveforms and where square waveforms?What are advantages/disadvantages or particular waveforms.Thank you for the explanation

author: ampdoctor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2014, 08:16:35 am
content: 99% of what I do is analog audio so depending on what you work on will change slightly. Personally, I use sine waves to check for loss of signal, distortion, checking for and trying to excite unwanted oscillation, signs of clipping and overdriving gain stages etc. I'll inject square waves primarily to check filters and look for ringing on power supplies, but they can also be useful for testing and analyzing digital switching and logic gates. Triangles, I pretty much never use it. As I said, depending on your interests your mileage may vary.

author: justanothercanuck
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2014, 08:20:28 am
content: For retro hardware (ie: video games and early computer systems) square and triangle waves are used for sound, occasionally along with sawtooth waves. Each waveform has a distinct sound.

author: rob77
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2014, 09:36:36 am
content: as ampdoctor said - most of the time you need only sine and square.you might need triangle or sawtooth for sweeping you signal generator's sine output, but otherwise.... i can't think of anything right now where i would need thosemy signal generator i built recently has only sine and square (based on el-cheapo AD9850 DDS boards from e-bay) and that's just enough for mei'm doing the sweep in software - so i don't even need the triangle/sawtooth for that.and of course if you run into a situation when you need a triangle - you can build a simple integrator and make it out of the square

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2014, 10:04:19 am
content: Triangle waves are great for finding out what level an amplifier is clipping. Sure, you can see it on a scope with a sine wave but it's so much clearer if the top of a triangle has been lopped.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2014, 10:35:00 am
content: All can be used to check the functionality of logic circuits.eg. you might want to check the timing accuracy of a triggered mono-stable or a timed one-shot and you could use a low frequency square wave for the input, set your scope trigger for that and measure the output on or off time.They can also be used circuit for fault finding by way of injection into the signal path and then monitor subsequent stages with a scope.Most Function generators can do all these things.An AWG can do much much more.

author: bwat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2014, 10:38:22 am
content: What about using square waves for transient response when investigatingslew rate,inductors, andcapacitors?

author: PE1RKI
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2014, 10:48:02 am
content: with triangle you can make pwm with a comperator. or a little class d amplifier.

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2014, 01:28:22 pm
content: Sine waves are used to check an amplifier for linearity. Feed your sine wave into an amplifier and then check the output on an audio spectrum analyzer to see if there are any unwanted products.Square waves are used at 5v and 3.3v levels for logic. At other levels they can be used to check an amplifier for frequency response and/or ringing as a square wave has (in theory) an infinite series of harmonics.Sawtooth waves are used when you want to sweep a circuit. In the bad old days the horizontal line on a scope was driven by a sawtooth generator and getting the sweep linear was sometimes difficult, now it's all digital. You can still use a sawtooth waveform though if you want to sweep an oscillator over a range.Triangle waves, they're the tough one and until six months ago I'd never found a use for the triangle wave output on my function generator. When you're adjusting an FM transmitter for correct deviation feed a triangle wave signal into the microphone, the signal on the spectrum analyzer will have a nice flat top making the adjustment easy.White noise can be used to test circuits for bandwidth using your device under test and a spectrum analyzer. This technique works with everything from loudspeakers and microphones to RF power amplifiers.