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Oscilloscope is a compound word formed from oscillation (a regular variation in magnitude or position about a central point) and scope (to observe). An oscilloscope is therefore a device that allows us to observe oscillations – specifically, voltage oscillations.
There are several types of oscilloscope (Box 1) that all provide the same sort of functionality and differ only in the ‘mechanics’ of how they process an input signal. Each type will produce a similar output, which shows detailed information about the behaviour of an electrical signal in the form of a waveform pattern on a screen – an animated graph that fluctuates over time.
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