Department of CSE

 
Post Lab Report
 
 
 
Experiment  No.    : 02

Experiment Name : Half-Wave Diode Rectifier Circuit. 

 
Course Code : CSE 251
 
Course Title  : Electronic Circuits
 
Section          : 06
 
 
                                                             Group                  : 07
                                                                                          
                                                                                            Group Members  :
                                                                                                                          Nishat Sultana Supty
                                                                                                                              (2018-2-60-126)
 
                                                                                                                                          Anik
                                                                                                                                 2018-2-60-
                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                               Arekjon
                                                                                                                             2018-2-60-
 
 
Submitted To            :           M Saddam Hossain Khan (SHK)
                                                          Senior Lecturer
                                  Department of Computer Science & Engineering
 
 
Date of Submission :

Abstract
This experiment is carried out to learn about the half-wave diode rectifier circuit and its
characteristics. Through this experiment we get a clear idea of how to turn an AC voltage source
to a stable DC voltage source using a half-wave rectifier. A diode can be used to rectify the AC
voltage to a DC voltage and a capacitor can be used in parallel with the load to stabilize the
output DC voltage and reduce the peak to peak ripple voltage. Using these principles we can
create a stable DC output from an AC voltage source.

R(+) Channel-1 R(+)

Channel-2
10V (p-p) 1K
1KHz

B(-) B(-)

Figure 1: Experimental Circuit

Objective

The objective of this experiment is to learn about the half-wave diode rectifier circuit and its
characteristics and how it affects the output on an AC voltage. We also learn about the effects of
a capacitor filter on the output of a rectifier circuit and how it reduces the peak to peak ripple
voltage and the voltage disturbance of a rectifier circuit output, effectively regulating the DC
output voltage and working as a power supply.

Theory And Experimental Methods

A rectifier is a circuit which coverts an AC voltage signal to a DC voltage signal. A half-wave

rectifier is built using a single diode and can only rectify only the positive or negative half cycle
of an AC voltage. And as a result, normally a rectifier circuit only outputs DC voltage for only
half of the cycle and does not have any voltage for the other half. To fix this a capacitor is added
to the rectifier circuit which acts as a filter and reduces the peak to peak ripple voltage. The
higher the time constant, RC of the capacitor is, the lower the peak to peak ripple voltage
becomes and the DC voltage becomes more stable.

Procedures

1
 1. All the circuit elements are measured and was written down.
2. The given circuit is constructed using all the given circuit elements.

R(+) R(+)

Channel-1

Channel-2
10V (p-p) 1K
1KHz

B(-) B(-)

Figure 2: Set up for the half wave diode-rectifier circuit

3. A sine wave of 10V peak-to-peak, 1KHz frequency was taken from the signal
generator and was observed in channel-1 of the oscilloscope.
4. The input is given to the circuit and the output is observed in channel-2 of the
oscilloscope.
5. Both the input and output voltage are observed in the oscilloscope in channel-1 and
channel-2 by setting dual mode.
6. The difference in peak input and output values are measured and written down.
7. The given capacitor is connected to circuit in parallel with the load resistance.
8. The diode conduction time (time between the lower peak to the upper peak of the
ripple voltage = time of charging the capacitor) is measured and written down.
9. The peak to peak ripple voltage from the oscilloscope is taken and written down.
10. Average value of the output voltage V0 is measured using the DC mode of the multi-
meter and written down.

Experimental Datasheet

Measured value of resistance = 0.98 kΩ

Peak to peak value ∆ V P= 2.4V
Diode conduction time ∆ t = 140µ s
Peak to peak ripple voltage V r = 680 mV = 0.42 V
Average value of output voltage V o = 6.06 V

2
Figure 3: Experimental Datasheet
3
Results And Discussion

From the experiment we get,

1. Measured value of peak to peak voltage, ∆ V P = 2.4 V

Built-in Voltage = 5 V
Difference = (5-2.4) V = 2.6 V
So we have a different peak to peak value of voltage which is not desirable.

2. Measured conduction time, Δt = 140 µs

Calculated pre-lab conduction time, Δt = 71.78 µs

So, we can see that there was a large difference between the measured and calculated value of
Δt in our experiment.
The difference between the measured value and calculated value,
= (140-71.78) µs
= 68.22 µs
Our calculated and measured conduction time has a difference of 68.22 µS

2 Vr
3. We know, ωΔt =
√ Vp
Thus, Peak to peak ripple voltage, Vr=¿
= 0.928 V
Now, Pre-Lab value = 0.5 V
Measured Value = 0.68 V

Difference between calculated value and measured value = (0.928 – 0.68) = 0.248 V
Difference between pre-lab value and measured value = (0.68 – 0.5) = 0.18 V

So all of our values of peak to peak ripple voltage differs slightly, so either our measurement
was incorrect or the experiment did not go properly.

4. Average output voltage, V0avg = Vp - Vr/2

= 1.936V

Measured average output voltage V0avg = 6.06 V

Difference: 6.06-1.936 = 4.124V

There is a huge amount of difference between the measured and calculated values which
should not normally happen.

4
 V0
5. I L = = 6.18 mA
R
Vp
( √ )
IDAvg = I L 1+π
Vr
= 42.65 mA

Vp
( √ )
IDMax = I L 1+2 π
Vr
= 79.13 mA

Measured value of Vr = 0.68 V

Now, Pre-lab values :
IDAvg = 71.49 mA
IDmax =138.22mA
Vr = 0.5V

Thus, difference of IDAvg = 28.84mA

Difference of IDMax = 59.09mA
Difference of Vr = 0.18 V

6. Simulated half-wave rectifier circuit:

Figure 4, 5: Half-wave rectifier circuit with and without capacitor.

5
 Simulated rectified sine wave without capacitor :
5.0V

4.0V

3.0V

2.0V

1.0V

0V

-1.0V

-2.0V

-3.0V

-4.0V

-5.0V
0s 0.2ms 0.4ms 0.6ms 0.8ms 1.0ms 1.2ms 1.4ms 1.6ms 1.8ms 2.0ms 2.2ms 2.4ms 2.6ms 2.8ms 3.0ms 3.2ms 3.4ms 3.6ms 3.8ms 4.0ms
V(R1:2)
Time

Figure 6: Simulated rectified sine wave

Simulated rectified sine wave when a capacitor is used :

5.0V

4.5V

4.0V

3.5V

3.0V

2.5V

2.0V

1.5V

1.0V

0.5V

0V
0s 0.2ms 0.4ms 0.6ms 0.8ms 1.0ms 1.2ms 1.4ms 1.6ms 1.8ms 2.0ms 2.2ms 2.4ms 2.6ms 2.8ms 3.0ms 3.2ms 3.4ms 3.6ms 3.8ms 4.0ms
V(R1:2)
Time

Figure 7: Simulated rectified sine wave w/ capacitor

Conclusion

From this experiment it can be concluded that diodes work as a one way rectifier and a half wave
rectifier only conducts for half of an AC sinusoid voltage. Using a capacitor it can be turned into
a stable DC voltage stream. In this experiment we learned to measure peak to peak voltage,
ripple voltage, simulating a sinusoid using the oscilloscope. We learned the shape of the rectified
voltage and how the rectified voltage becomes after adding a capacitor in the circuit too.
Also from the comparisons between the experimental values and calculated values we see a lot of
differences which indicates that the experiment did not go as expected and there were probably a
lot of errors in setting up the oscilloscope and function generator properly. So we should be a lot
more careful so that the experimental value matches with our calculated values for proper results.