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Virtual Oscilloscope : Fizzics Education

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Virtual Oscilloscope

Virtual Oscilloscope

Follow FizzicsEd 150 Science Experiments:

You Will Need:

  • Your device with the microphone enabled on your browser to visualise and record sound waves.
  • All data is processed locally in your RAM and is never saved or sent to any server.
    Hardware & Sensory Privacy Policy

Open the Virtual Oscilloscope here

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Waveforms from a Virtual Oscilloscope
1 Start lab button which also says Allow mic access to visualize and record waves. All data is processed locally in RAM and is never saved or sent to any server.

To use the Virtual Oscilloscope;

  • Allow mic access to visualise and record waves.
    If you are using a tablet or phone, you will need to authorise this in your browser settings.
  • Remember, this is a teaching tool.
    We do not record your data as we don’t want it nor need it!
  • All data is processed locally in RAM and is never saved or sent to any server.
    Hardware & Sensory Privacy Policy

A Note on Photosensitivity
When using a virtual oscilloscope, the lines on the screen move very quickly to keep up with the speed of sound. This can sometimes create flashing lights or flickering patterns rapidly.

If you have photosensitive epilepsy or have ever had a seizure caused by flashing lights, you should be careful. It is a good idea to:

  • Reduce the brightness of your screen.
  • Avoid using the oscilloscope in a dark room.
  • Stop immediately if you feel dizzy, get a headache, or feel strange.
  • Always check with an adult before using tools that create fast-moving visual patterns.
2

To use the Virtual Oscilloscope with your device’s microphone

  • Choose your microphone from the tab
  • Choose your sampling rate, which means how many times your device records the data
3 Sine wave

To use the Virtual Oscilloscope to show the generated sine waves

  • Choose your Sine Wave from the tab
  • Use the slider bar to change the Hz (the frequency of the wave)
  • Change the number of samples per millisecond
4

To use the Virtual Oscilloscope to show the generated square waves

  • Choose your Square Wave from the tab
  • Use the slider bar to change the Hz (the frequency of the wave)
  • Change the number of samples per millisecond
5 Audio spectrum

The Virtual Oscilloscope will also show the audio spectrum visually.

  • You can click to expand each window or minimise each window as needed
  • You can also record the waveform and audio spectrum of sounds, which will be saved locally on your device.
  • Remember, this is a teaching tool.
    We do not record your data as we don’t want it nor need it!
  • All data is processed locally in RAM and is never saved or sent to any server.
    Hardware & Sensory Privacy Policy
6
7 Teacher showing how to do an experiment outside to a group of kids.

Online courses for teachers & parents

– Help students learn how science really works

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8 Stylised sound waves on a black background

Get the Unit of Work on Sound here!

  • What is amplitude?
  • What is frequency?
  • How does sound travel and what does it look like and more!

Includes cross-curricular teaching ideas, student quizzes, a sample marking rubric, scope & sequences & more

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Why does this work?

Here is the Virtual Oscilloscope.

You can open this simulator in a separate window here

A virtual oscilloscope takes the vibrations moving through the air—which we hear but can’t see—and draws them as a moving line on your screen. The oscilloscope then takes measurements of your sounds and plots them on a graph. The vertical (up and down) movement represents the volume, while the horizontal (left to right) movement represents time.

Sine Waves

If you whistle a single, clear note or hit a tuning fork, the oscilloscope will show a Sine Wave. This is the most basic building block of sound. Sine waves are smooth with no rough edges, so your ears perceive it as a very clean tone without any “fuzziness.”

Square Waves

A Square Wave looks exactly like its name: a series of flat tops and flat bottoms with straight vertical lines connecting them. You often hear these in vintage video game music (like the original Super Mario or Tetris). Instead of a smooth curve, the signal jumps instantly from the highest point to the lowest point. This creates sounds that are “sharp or even buzzy. The sound source is essentially switching “on” and “off” extremely fast. Because it lacks the smooth transitions of a sine wave, it contains a lot of extra “noise” that gives it that distinct, gritty texture.

Variables to test

  • Try high vs low sounds
  • Try different instruments
  • Try different natural or artificial sounds

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