Nominal Impedance - Oscilloscopes

Oscilloscopes

Oscilloscope inputs are usually high impedance so that they only minimally affect the circuit being measured when connected. However, the input impedance is made a specific nominal value, rather than arbitrarily high, because of the common use of X10 probes. A common value for oscilloscope nominal impedance is 1 MΩ resistance and 20 pF capacitance. With a known input impedance to the oscilloscope, the probe designer can ensure that the probe input impedance is exactly ten times this figure (actually oscilloscope plus probe cable impedance). Since the impedance included the input capacitance and the probe is an impedance divider circuit, the result is that the waveform being measured is not distorted by the RC circuit formed by the probe resistance and the capacitance of the input (or the cable capacitance which is generally higher).