Here is the characteristics of a single pulse.
- The voltage rises very rapidly from zero to its maximum value.
- It stays steady at the maximum value for a time.
- It then falls very rapidly back to zero.
- The duration of a pulse can be anywhere from a very long time (days) to a very short time (picoseconds or less).
- Pulses do not rise and fall instantaneously but take time (which may be very short).
- They are called the RISE and FALL times.
If pulses occur one after another they are called a PULSE TRAIN. The duration time of a pulse is called the MARK. The time between pulses is called the SPACE. The relative times are expressed as the MARK/SPACE RATIO. Mark/space ratios can vary.
Fig. 3 has a 50:50 mark/space ratio. This is a special case called a SQUARE WAVE. Fig. 4 is about 1:10 Fig. 5 is about 10:1
Note that the last three waveforms are of the same frequency. All the pulses start at the same instant.
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