Finding amplitude and phase angle from a graph?

Click For Summary
SUMMARY

This discussion focuses on determining the amplitude and phase angle from a graph of sine waves. The amplitude is calculated as the difference between the high and low points divided by two. To find the phase angle, one must analyze the position of the wave's x-axis crossings relative to the origin. The discussion includes a reference to a helpful resource on phase shifts and angles from IntMath.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of sine wave properties
  • Knowledge of amplitude calculation
  • Familiarity with phase angle concepts
  • Ability to interpret graphical data
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the concept of phase shift in trigonometric functions
  • Learn how to calculate phase angles using graphical methods
  • Explore resources on sine and cosine wave characteristics
  • Investigate tools for graphing and analyzing waveforms
USEFUL FOR

Students in physics or engineering, signal processing professionals, and anyone interested in analyzing waveforms and their properties.

spj1
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
I have a question asking for the period, frequency, amplitude and phase angle from simply looking at a graph. I have the period and frequency, and 'think' i have the amplitude (high point - low point / 2), but I don't know how to get the phase angle. No equation is given so I can't simply consider the coefficients in front of sin and cos.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Can you post a picture of the graph? If you're comparing two signals, you can compare their peaks (or where they cross the x-axis), and use the difference to compute the angle.

I'm including a picture. The purple distances are both equivalent, and demonstrate the phase difference between two signals (sine waves).

If there's only one signal/line in your graph, they're likely referring to where your line crosses the x-axis, going in the positive y direction, compared to the origin of the graph, as demonstrated by the darker purple distance marking.

Digging around on the net I came across this, which might help you: http://www.intmath.com/Trigonometric-graphs/3_Graphs-sin-cos-phase-shift.php Make sure to read the comments about half way down the page regarding phase shift and phase angle.
 

Attachments

  • PhaseAngle.png
    PhaseAngle.png
    4 KB · Views: 4,936
Last edited:

Similar threads

  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • · Replies 27 ·
Replies
27
Views
880
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
2K