Tag: Standing Waves

A waveguide is a special form of transmission line consisting of a hollow, metal tube. The tube wall provides distributed inductance, while the empty space between the tube walls provide distributed capacitance. Wave guides conduct microwave energy at lower loss than coaxial cables. Waveguides are practical only for signals of extremely high frequency, where the…

Standing waves at the resonant frequency points of an open- or short-circuited transmission line produce unusual effects. When the signal frequency is such that exactly 1/2 wave or some multiple thereof matches the line’s length, the source “sees” the load impedance as it is. The following pair of illustrations shows an open-circuited line operating at…

In DC and low-frequency AC circuits, the characteristic impedance of parallel wires is usually ignored. This includes the use of coaxial cables in instrument circuits, often employed to protect weak voltage signals from being corrupted by induced “noise” caused by stray electric and magnetic fields. This is due to the relatively short timespans in which…

A transmission line of infinite length is an interesting abstraction, but physically impossible. All transmission lines have some finite length, and as such do not behave precisely the same as an infinite line. If that piece of 50 Ω “RG-58/U” cable I measured with an ohmmeter years ago had been infinitely long, I actually would…

The Parallel Wires of Infinite Length Suppose, though, that we had a set of parallel wires of infinite length, with no lamp at the end. What would happen when we close the switch? Being that there is no longer a load at the end of the wires, this circuit is open. Would there be no…

Suppose we had a simple one-battery, one-lamp circuit controlled by a switch. When the switch is closed, the lamp immediately lights. When the switch is opened, the lamp immediately darkens: (Figure below) Lamp appears to immediately respond to switch. Actually, an incandescent lamp takes a short time for its filament to warm up and emit…

Early in my explorations of electricity, I came across a length of coaxial cable with a label of “50 ohms” printed along its outer sheath (Figure below). Coaxial cable is a two-conductor cable made of a single conductor surrounded by a braided wire jacket, with a plastic insulating material separating the two. As such, the…