ELEC 241 Lab

Background

In Lab 1, the signals we observed were simple, and their sources assumed to be ideal. Similarly, we assumed that the measuring instrument had no effect on the signal source. Real signal sources and destinations are not ideal, but rather have a resistance associated with them, as shown in the diagram below. For resons which will soon become apparent, it's common to refer to the destination of a signal as the load. $\includegraphics[scale=0.650000]{fig4.ps}$ Ordinarily we assume that $R_{out}$ is negligibly small (e.g. 0) and that $R_{L}$ is extremely high (e.g. $\infty$ ). This assumption usually works but sometimes fails, causing "anomalous results".