MSE 310 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Tourmaline, Ferroelectricity, Dissociation Constant

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Mechatronic Sys Engineering
• Course: MSE 310
• Professor: Edward J.Park

Document Summary

A sensor is a device that transforms a physical variable of interest ( measurand ) into a form that is suitable for recording (the measurement). Sensors are transducers that convert energy of one form into output energy of another form. Requires separate power source (power supply), dissipation of energy required: park. Figure 2-3 potentiometer: there are advantages and disadvantages to both types of sensors e. g. , passive sensors derive their energy from the measurand tend to distort/affect the measurand to a greater extent than an active sensor would. But, passive sensors are simple in design, more reliable, and less costly in general. Most physical variable tend to be continuous: current, temperature, displacement, acceleration, speed, pressure, light intensity, strain, etc. Digital sensors are basically binary ( on and off ) devices with signals existing at only discrete values of time (or space), with discrete number of magnitude values. Digital sensors provides a signal that is a direct digital representation of the measurand.