LAB ACTIVITY 2:

HALF-WAVE RECTIFIER

I. Objectives

The objectives of this activity are to know what a rectifier is and to study and analyse the
process of how a half-wave rectifier works.

II. Basic Concepts

Rectification is the process of turning an AC input into DC usually with the help of a diode.
During this process, the diode is referred to as a rectifier. (Boylestad, Nashelsky, 1998)

The Alternating Current

The alternating current (AC) is a stream of charges that periodically changes direction
whereas the direct current (DC) only goes in one direction (Andrew Rader Studios, 1997-2014).
From this, we can see that an AC voltage source creates current that changes polarity over a
period of time across a circuit. The most basic of all AC is the sinusoidal wave since all the other
types of waves are just derivatives of the sine wave using the Fourier transform. The period of
time where the AC voltage source completes one shift of polarity is called one full cycle and it is
divided into two parts, the positive half cycle, where the voltage input is positive, and the
negative half cycle, where the voltage input is negative. Other components to take note for an
AC are its amplitude and its frequency. The amplitude is the range of voltage that an AC is
capable of making and the frequency determines how fast or, as its name suggests, how
frequently one full cycle occurs.

Half-wave Rectification

Half-wave rectification is a process where half of the full input AC cycle is used when
converting AC to DC
[1]
. A basic setup of this rectification process can be seen on Figure 2-1.


Figure 2-1. A Basic Circuit Setup for Half-wave Rectification.

The rectification process starts after an AC voltage input is applied across the given setup.
During the positive half cycle, the AC inputs polarity causes the given diode to become
forward-biased, thus allowing current to flow across the circuit. Ideally, this causes the load
resistance to have the same voltage as the AV input, but if the diode has a voltage drop, the
loads voltage then becomes the input minus the voltage drop of the diode, that is, only for the
positive half cycle. Now during the negative half cycle, the polarity of the AC input reverses,
causing the given diode to become reverse-biased. As discussed in the previous activity, when a
diode is in reverse-bias, it blocks all current going through it causing the load resistors voltage
to become zero, thus effectively eliminating the negative half of the AC and causing the output
voltage to only have one polarity, which is the positive half in this case. This process can be seen
on Figure 2-2.



Figure 2-2. The Half-wave Rectification Process
[4]

The DC value of the rectified AC input is given by the equation: V
DC
= V
L
/ , where V
L
is the
voltage across the load resistor. This is taken from the average of the net area of V
L
in one full
cycle
[1]
.
Some characteristics and parameters of a half-wave rectifier that should be taken note of are
its forward current, peak inverse voltage and ripple factor. The forward current and peak inverse
voltage are the current and voltage values that the rectifier can be able to withstand before
breaking. As for the ripple factor, it is defined as the amount of AC content in the DC output.
The less the ripple factor, the performance of the rectifier is more. (Administrator, 2013) To
lessen the ripple factor during rectification and to smoothen the output, a filter must be added
across the load. This filter is usually in the form of a capacitor.

III. Materials and Equipment

Diode: 1N4001 (Table 2-1 for datasheet)
Resistors: 500 , 1000 , 10000
Connectors
Breadboard
Oscilloscope
Function Generator

IV. Procedure

Half-wave Rectification
[2]

1. Construct the circuit shown in Figure 2-1.
2. Switch on the oscilloscope.
3. Switch on the function generator and set the amplitude to 5V
p
, 50Hz, sinusoidal.
4. Use the oscilloscope to measure and record necessary data and graphs. Adjust the
oscilloscope properly so that the waveform can be clearly seen in the oscilloscope screen.
5. Record all necessary data and graphs in part V.
6. Repeat all steps while adding variations to the circuit and input values, such as changing
the frequency, the amplitude, the load resistance, the polarity of the diode and the
waveform.

Figure 2-3. Circuit setup in analysing the half-wave rectification process

V. Tables and Observations

The student used a simulation of the given procedure when conducting the activity. He
used NI Multisim 11.0, a circuit design software.


Table 2-1. 1N4001 Diode Specifications
[3]

Sinusoidal Wave Input

Figure 2-4. Output of a 5V
p
, 50Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of 500

Figure 2-5. Output of a 5V
p
, 50Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
100.

Figure 2-6. Output of a 5V
p
, 50Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
10000.

Figure 2-7. Output of a 2 V
p
, 50 Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000

Figure 2-8. Output of a 10V
p
, 50Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000

Figure 2-9. Output of a 5V
p
, 50Hz at 5V/div a5ms/div with a load resistor value of 1000 where
the diodes polarity is reversed.

Figure 2-10. Output of a 5V
p
, 25Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000

Figure 2-11. Output of a 5V
p
, 500Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000

V
I
(Peak), V Frequency, Hz V
o
(Peak), V V
I
-V
o
, V Resistor,
5 50 4.352 0.648 500
5 50 4.506 0.494 10000
5 50 4.388 0.612 1000
5 25 4.388 0.612 1000
4.982 500 4.370 0.612 1000
2 50 1.445 0.555 1000
10 50 9.348 0.652 1000
Table 2-2. Data of a Sinusoidal Wave Input

Triangle Wave Input

Figure 2-12. Output of a 5V
p
, 50Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
500

Figure 2-13. Output of a 5V
p
, 50Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000.

Figure 2-14. Output of a 5 V
p
, 50 Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
10000.

Figure 2-15. Output of a 2V
p
, 50Hz input at 2V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000

Figure 2-16. Output of a 10V
p
, 50Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000

Figure 2-17. Output of a 5V
p
, 50Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000 where the diodes polarity is reversed.
Figure 2-18. Output of a 5V
p
, 25Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000


Figure 2-19. Output of a 5V
p
, 500 Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000

V
I
(Peak), V Frequency, Hz V
o
(Peak), V V
I
-V
o
, V Resistor,
4.981 50 4.333 0.648 500
4.981 50 4.487 0.494 10000
4.981 50 4.369 0.612 1000
4.981 25 4.369 0.612 1000
4.735 500 4.127 0.608 1000
1.992 50 1.438 0.554 1000
9.962 50 9.311 0.651 1000
Table 2-3. Table of a Triangle Wave Input
Square Wave Input


Figure 2-20. Output of a 5V
p
, 50Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
500

Figure 2-21. Output of a 5V
p
, 50Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000

Figure 2-22. Output of a 5V
p
, 50Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
10000

Figure 2-23. Output of a 2V
p
, 50Hz input at 2V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000

Figure 2-24. Output of a 10V
p
, 50Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000

Figure 2-25. Output of a 5V
p
, 50Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000 where the diodes polarity is reversed

Figure 2-26. Output of a 5V
p
, 25Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000

Figure 2-27. Output of a 5V
p
, 500Hz input at 5V/div and 5ms/div with a load resistor value of
1000

V
I
(Peak), V Frequency, Hz V
o
(Peak), V V
I
-V
o
, V Resistor,
5 50 4.352 0.648 500
5 50 4.506 0.494 10000
5 50 4.388 0.612 1000
5 25 4.388 0.612 1000
5 500 4.388 0.612 1000
2 50 1.445 0.555 1000
10 50 9.349 0.651 1000
Table 2-3. Data of a Square Wave Input


VI. Conclusion

After the activity was conducted, it is concluded that the semiconductor diode, which is also
known as a rectifier, is a device used to convert AC to DC. During this experiment it was used as
a half-wave rectifier, in which it converted the given AC input into DC, through the use of the
rectifier diode, with only half of the given AC input. Only half was used because in AC, the
polarity changes over a period of time where one full alternation of its polarity is called a full
cycle. During half of this cycle, its polarity causes the diode to be in forward-bias, while on the
other half it causes the diode to be in reverse-bias. From this, we can see that on one half of the
cycle there is voltage on the load , while on the other half it is equal to zero since no current
passes through it. This gives the load a voltage equivalent to the input voltage wherein its
polarity of causes the diode to be in forward bias minus the voltage drop across the diode. Since
the voltage across the load has only one polarity, we can now see that the AC input voltage has
been successfully converted into DC.
From the data that was gathered, it can be seen that the difference between the input voltage
and the output voltage is across its peaks is the voltage drop of the diode. In this activity, the
diode that was used was a silicon based diode which has an average voltage drop of 0.7V which
can also be seen in the data in the tables. However, the voltage difference can be affected if, the
input voltage is change or if the value of the load resistor is changed.
Another application of the rectifier diode is to be able to convert the full wave of the AC
input, that is, the Full-wave Rectification process, which will be further discussed in the next
laboratory activity.


VII. References

1. Boylestad, R. &Nashelsky L. (1998). Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory.Prentince
Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

2. Awad N., Al-Khawaldeh S., Electronics Lab. Electrical Engineering Department,
University of Jordan.

3. Diodes Incorporated.1N4001 - 1N4007.http://www.diodes.com/datasheets/ds28002.pdf

4. Storr, Wayne. (2014). Power Diodes and Rectifiers. http://www.electronics-
tutorials.ws/diode/diode_5.html

5. Phyiscs4kids.com. Electricity & Magnetism Alternating Current.
http://www.physics4kids.com/files/elec_ac.html

6. Administrator. (Sept. 12, 2013). Characteristics and Working of Half-wave Rectifier.
http://www.electronicshub.org/characteristics-and-working-of-half-wave-rectifier/