Mostdigitalmultimetersareequippedtomeasurefrequency.

What is frequency?
ACfrequencyisthenumberofcyclespersecondinanalternatingcurrent(ac)sinewave.
Saidanotherway,frequencyistherateatwhichcurrentchangesdirectionpersecond.Itismeasuredinhertz(Hz),aninternationalunitofmeasurewhere
1hertzisequalto1cyclepersecond.
Atitsmostbasic,frequencyishowoftensomethingrepeats.Inthecaseofelectricalcurrent,frequencyisthenumberoftimesasinewaverepeats,or
completes,apositivetonegativecycle.
Example:Ifanalternatingcurrentissaidtohaveafrequencyof5Hz(seediagrambelow),thatindicatesitswaveformrepeats5timesin1second.

Themorecyclesthatoccurpersecond,thehigherthefrequency.
Thefollowingissomeoftheterminologyoffrequency:
Hertz(Hz):Onehertzisequaltoonecyclepersecond.
Cycle:Onecompletewaveofalternatingcurrentorvoltage.
Alternation:Onehalfofacycle.
Period:Thetimerequiredtoproduceonecompletecycleofawaveform.
Frequencyistypicallyusedtodescribeelectricalequipmentoperation.Belowaresomecommonfrequencyranges:
Powerlinefrequency(normally50Hzor60Hz).
Variablefrequencydrives,whichnormallyusea120kilohertz(kHz)carrierfrequency.

Audiofrequency:15Hzto20kHz(therangeofhumanhearing).
Radiofrequency:30300kHz.
Lowfrequency:300kHzto3megahertz(MHz).
Mediumfrequency:330MHz.
Highfrequency:30300MHz.
Circuitsandequipmentareoftendesignedtooperateatafixedorvariablefrequency.
Equipmentdesignedtooperateatafixedfrequencyperformsabnormallyifoperatedatadifferentfrequencythanspecified.
Example:Anacmotordesignedtooperateat60Hzrunsslowerifthefrequencydropsbelow60Hz,fasterifitexceeds60Hz.
Foracmotors,anychangeinfrequencycausesaproportionalchangeinmotorspeed.
Example:A5%reductioninfrequencyproducesa5%reductioninmotorspeed.
Adigitalmultimeter(DMM)thatincludesaFrequencyCountermodecanmeasurethefrequencyofalternatingcurrentsignals.ADMMmayalsoofferthese
modes:
MIN/MAXRecording:Permitsfrequencymeasurementstoberecorded:
a.overaspecifictimeperiod
b.thesamewayvoltage,currentorresistancemeasurementsarerecorded.
Autorange:Automaticallyselectsthefrequencyrange(unlessthemeasuredvoltageisoutsidethefrequencymeasurementrange).
Powergridsvarybynation.IntheUnitedStates,thegridisbasedonahighlystable60hertzsignal,meaningitcycles60timespersecond.
IntheU.S.,householdelectricalpowerisbasedonasinglephase,120voltACpowersupply.PowermeasuredatawalloutletinaU.S.homewillyieldsine
wavesthatoscillatebetween170andminus170volts,withthetruermsvoltagemeasuringat120volts.Therateofoscillationwillbe60cyclespersecond.
HertzisnamedafterGermanphysicistHeinrichHertz(18571894),firsttobroadcastandreceiveradiowaves.Radiowavestravelatonecyclepersecond(1
Hz).(Similarly,aclockticksat1Hz.)
Reference:DigitalMultimeterPrinciplesbyGlenA.Mazur,AmericanTechnicalPublishers.

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