Welcome to Poly Notes Hub. In this note, we are talking about Sinusoidal Oscillator and Type of Oscillation – Like Damped Oscillation and Undamped Oscillation.
Author Name: Arun Paul.
What is Oscillator in Electronics?
An electronic device that generates a Sinusoidal Oscillation of desired frequency is known as an Oscillator or Sinusoidal Oscillator.
Although we speak of an oscillator as “generating” a frequency, it should be noted that it does not create energy, but merely acts as an energy converter. It receives d.c. energy and changes it into a.c. the energy of the desired frequency. The frequency of the oscillator depends upon the constant of the device.
It may be mentioned here that although an alternator produces sinusoidal oscillations of 50 Hz, it cannot be called an oscillator. Firstly, an alternator is a mechanical device having rotating parts whereas an oscillator is a non-rotating electronic device. Secondly, an alternator converts mechanical energy into a.c. energy while an oscillator converts d.c. energy into a.c. energy. Thirdly, an alternator cannot produce high-frequency oscillations whereas an oscillator can produce oscillations ranging from a few Hz to several MHz.
Advantages of Oscillator or Sinusoidal Oscillator
Electronics oscillator has some advantages like –
- An oscillator is a non-roatating device. Consequently, there is little wear and tear and hence longer life .
- Due to the absence of moving parts, the operation of an oscillator is quite silent.
- An oscillator can produce waves from small (20 Hz) to extremely high frequencies.
- The frequency of oscillations can be easily changed when desired.
- It has good frequency stability i.e. frequency once set remains constant for a considerable period of time .
- It has very high frequency.
Types
There are two types of oscillation –
Damped Oscillation
The electrical oscillations whose amplitude goes on decreasing with time are called Damped oscillations. Fig shows the waveform of the damped type. The electrical system in which these oscillations are generated has losses and some energy is lost during each oscillation. Further, no means are provided to compensate for the losses, and consequently, the amplitude of the generated wave decreases gradually. It may be noted that the frequency of oscillators remains unchanged since it depends upon the constant of the electrical system.
Undamped Oscillation
The electrical oscillations whose amplitude remains constant with time are called undamped oscillations. Fig shows the waveform of undamped electrical oscillations. Although the electrical system in which these oscillations are being generated has also losses, now the right amount of energy is being supplied to overcome the losses. Consequently, the amplitude of the generated wave remains constant. It should be emphasized that an oscillator is required to produce undamped electrical oscillations for utilizing various electronic equipment.
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