Question

Discuss Lissajou figures in general. (Include frequencies and phase. Use a ¶ of 100 words or less.)

Answer 1

Lissajous figure represents the patterns produced by the intersection of two sinusoidal curves the axes of which are at right angles to each other. A Lissajous figure is produced by taking two sine waves and displaying them at right angles to each other. This is easily done on an oscilloscope in XY mode. One of the Lissajous figure is shown below.

They can be most easily be formed by supplying different alternating voltages to the x- and y-deflection plates of an oscilloscope. Only if the frequencies are commensurable will a true Lissajous figure be formed. One of the main application of Lissajou figure is that it can be used to detect the phase shift of two signals with a same frequency.