4ELEC-18

Starter

Using the PASCO light sensor (as introduced in ELEC-4) measure the light given off by a torch and by a lamp. The first time you do this you should set the sample rate to a low value (e.g. 10Hz or 25Hz, talk about frame rate if you like). You should get two flat lines (at different light intensities).

Next crank up the sample rate to the MAX (1000Hz) and repeat. You'll get lots of data points so you only need to run it for 0.2s max. Expand the scales and you should see the torch is still a (reasonably) flat line whilst the lamp varies with a cycle frequency of 100Hz (this is due to the negative part of the a.c. signal still producing the same light, i.e. the frequency of the mains is doubled)

If you are unsure about using PASCO graphs or adjusting sample rates then speak to PAS for a quick run down.