When the amplitude of high frequency carrier wave is changed in accordance with the intensity of the signal, it is called amplitude modulation.
In amplitude modulation, only the amplitude of the carrier wave is changed in accordance with the intensity of the signal. However, the frequency of the modulated wave remains the same as the carrier frequency. The Below figure shows the principle of amplitude modulation (a) shows the audio electrical signal, whereas (b) shows the carrier wave of constant amplitude and (c) shows the amplitude-modulated wave.
Note that the amplitude of both positive and negative half cycles of carrier wave are changed in accordance with the signal. For instance, when the signal is increasing in the positive sense, the amplitude of carrier wave also increases. During negative half cycle of the signal, the amplitude of carrier decreases. Amplitude modulation is done by an electronic circuit called modulator.
The following points are worth noting in amplitude modulation:
(i) The amplitude of the carrier wave changes according to the intensity of the signal.
(ii) The amplitude variation of the carrier wave is at the signal frequency fs.
(iii) The frequency of the amplitude modulated wave remains the same, i.e., carrier frequency, fc.
In amplitude modulation, the amplitude of the wave is varied duplicating faithfully the fluctuations of the message. At the receiver these variations are detected or demodulated i.e., the message is removed from the carrier. (Although the more precise terms are demodulation for the process and demodulator for the device, the terms detection and detector are widely used.) After reception and demodulation at the receiver, the carrier is of no further use and is discarded.
