Digital vs.

Analog Signals

Think about how you communicate with other people on a daily

basis. Do you call on your cell phone, text, or email? Have you
ever used a landline to make a phone call?

Now, think about how messages are actually sent and

received. Messages are delivered by signals, which are wave
pulses that can be transmitted and received.

Digital vs. Analog Signals

Although both digital and analog signals deliver messages,
they have more differences than similarities. People send messages via
signals everyday.
Analog Signals
signal: a wave pulse that
Analog signals are made up of continuously streaming data.
can be transmitted or
Look at the picture of the clocks to the right. The top one you
received
probably already know is called a digital clock, but did you
know the bottom one is called an analog clock? Why do you
think that would be? Analog clocks provide continuous data (as
shown by the constant movement of the second and minute
hands) just like analog signals provide continuous data.

Analog signals also have significant variation. Take a light

wave, for example. In the visible light spectrum, you can see a
full range of colors. Theres not just blue and green, but a
multitude of other colors that fall between those two. Analog
signals vary in frequency just as the waves carrying the
information continuously vary.

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 Digital vs. Analog Signals

Digital Signals
Digital signals, on the other hand, are like a light switch. They have
two distinct values that they can send, rather than an infinite set of
values like in analog signals. A common digital signal is binary
code, a language of just zeroes and ones that computers use to
communicate. A one in binary turns on the signal, while zero turns
off the signal.

Like a light switch, digital

signals have two values.

Which type of signal is a more reliable way to encode and transmit information? The answer is
digital. Can you think of why this is the case?

If a message is disrupted, digitized signals are able to pick it up more easily at the exact point the
message dropped. (The segmented nature of the digital signal allows this.) Analog signals, on the
other hand, are continuous; if they are disrupted, they must be restarted at the very beginning of
the message. This is why more modern technological devices tend to use digitized signals rather
than analog ones.

Digital signals send segments,

while analog signals send
continuous streams.

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 Digital vs. Analog Signals

What Do You Know?

Show what you have learned about digital and analog signals by completing the Venn diagram
below. Sort the words and phrases from the word bank into the correct places. Afterward, add any
additional words or phrases that will help you differentiate the two signal types.

Digital Signals Analog Signals

Word Bank

Transmitted as pulse More reliable Less reliable

Used by landline telephones Used by computers All electromagnetic waves

Converted into binary code Continuous Intervals

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 Digital vs. Analog Signals

Digital and Analog Signals at Home

To help your child better understand the differences between digital and analog signals, go on a
photo scavenger hunt of all the electronic devices around your house that send out a signal. Take
pictures of each device. Next, sort the pictures of the devices into two groups those that send out
analog signals and those that send out digitized signals.

If you have a modem in your home, make sure you stop there and discuss it. Modems convert the
digital signals from the computer to analog signals that can then be sent out over the telephone
line. Point out to your child the different cords running in and out of the modem. Ask which type of
signal is at each point.

Here are some questions to discuss with your child:

1. What is an analog signal?
2. What is a digital signal?
3. Which type of signal is more reliable?
4. How are digitized signals sent?