What term describes the time that a pulse is on, typically measured in microseconds?

• A. Pulse duration
• B. Pulse length
• C. Wavelength
• D. Frequency

Answer: (A)

Describing how long a pulse stays active—the time the signal is on—is the pulse duration. It is the interval from when the pulse begins to when it ends, typically measured in microseconds or nanoseconds. Wavelength is the spatial distance the wave travels in one cycle, so it’s a spatial, not a time, measure. Frequency is how many cycles occur per second, the inverse of the period, but it describes rate rather than the on-time of a single pulse. Pulse length can be used in some contexts to refer to the overall extent of the pulse, but for the specific question of how long the pulse is on, pulse duration is the precise term.