What type of waveform has equal horizontal sections at two fixed voltage values and equal instantaneous rise and fall times?

What type of waveform has equal horizontal sections at two fixed voltage values and equal instantaneous rise and fall times?

• A. Sine wave
• B. Sawtooth wave
• C. Square wave
• D. Triangle wave

Answer: (C)

Two flat portions at fixed voltages with quick, symmetric transitions describe a square wave. It spends time at a high level, then instantly switches to a low level, and repeats, creating horizontal segments at each voltage. When the rise and fall are very fast and equal, the transitions are symmetric, which is characteristic of a square wave. Other waves don’t have these two flat voltage levels: a sine wave is smoothly curved, a sawtooth ramps up then drops abruptly but has only one flat portion per cycle, and a triangle ramps up and down with no flat sections.

Two flat portions at fixed voltages with quick, symmetric transitions describe a square wave. It spends time at a high level, then instantly switches to a low level, and repeats, creating horizontal segments at each voltage. When the rise and fall are very fast and equal, the transitions are symmetric, which is characteristic of a square wave. Other waves don’t have these two flat voltage levels: a sine wave is smoothly curved, a sawtooth ramps up then drops abruptly but has only one flat portion per cycle, and a triangle ramps up and down with no flat sections.