What’s a sawtooth wave?

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A sine wave, in its simplest form, is a wave that has a fixed frequency and wavelength, and is very reminiscent of the images most people have seen of waves without sharp angles. A sawtooth wave, however, has ramps that drop off or start abruptly, becoming similar to the teeth on a saw. It can be found in some music and graphics applications.
Most conventional waves of this type begin by gradually increasing pressure upward in a straight line, then have a sharp drop in another straight line. The process then repeats. However, you can also act in the opposite direction, going down slowly before a sharp climb. This is known as a reverse or reverse sawtooth wave. Either way, these types of sine waves still look like a saw, teeth pointing up.

Like all sine waves, this type of wave is capable of producing sound. As you might suspect, the sharp points mean that the sound it makes will likely be very hard, compared to the soft sounds of most waves. It should also be relatively clear, however.

This wave has practical applications. It often forms the basis for musical synthesizers, for example, and as such is responsible for their unique sounds and contributes to their ability to produce the sounds of other instruments. These waves are especially valuable when replicating the sounds of stringed instruments.

Sawtooth wave can also be used in visual applications, but is not as common as the synthesized uses. Through its electromagnetic properties, the wave can actually be used to manipulate groups of pixels, or rasters, on the screen. As a result, it can be a very important tool for some types of monitors, such as more traditional CRT units.

One way a sawtooth wave differs from its counterparts is in its level of symmetry. Simply put, there is none within the wave. While each wavelength may be the same, the gradual slope will always be longer than the sharp slope. This is part of the very important difference between the sawtooth and other types of sine waves.

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