Or at least “explain it like I am an 8th grader.” I am a middle school science teacher and am struggling with explaining these concepts in a simplified way that my students can understand. They have some prior knowledge about waves and how they travel. I appreciate any help you can provide!
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Analog signals are proportional to whatever you’re trying to control or whatever information you’re sending.
Example: Suppose you have a thermostat that controls radiator valves for heating. When the room is cold, the thermostat will send a small analog signal in the form of a direct current voltage between 0 and 10 volts (0-10 V DC) to the radiator valves. The valve opens proportionally to the analog signal….a 5 VDC will open the valve 50%, 6 VDC opens 60% and so on. The output signal from the analog thermostat is proportional to how much heat is needed in the room, and how much hot water is allowed through the radiator.
Digital signals (sometimes also called binary signals) are either 0 or 1’s. There is no in-between. These are used either when we just need and “on / off” control or we want to convert the information into computer code.
So for the thermostat example: a digital signal could be limited to either 0 VDC or 10VDC….no in between. In that case the radiator valve would only ever be fully open or fully closed….you’d still get heat to the room, but it would be an all or nothing approach. You would get full flow to the radiator, and once the thermostat was satisfied, the valve would close completely.
It would be like trying to control the speed of your car by only ever having your foot off the gas or putting the pedal hard to the floor.
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