in this lesson we're going to talk about

Zener diodes but to begin let's compare

the Zener diode to a conventional diode

on the right this is the symbol for a

Zener diode now a conventional diode is

designed to allow conventional current

to flow in the four direction so this

would be the positive terminal and this

would be the negative terminal in a

Zener diode current can flow in the four

direction like a conventional diode or

it can flow in the opposite direction

now as 'inna diode is designed to

operate in the reverse bias mode in this

mode the Zener diode has a certain

reverse breakdown voltage and it's

basically the radian of the Zener diode

so let's say if we have a 12 volt Zener

diode so when you place it in reverse

mode if the voltage is 12 or more it

will conduct in that direction so let's

give some examples let's apply it to a

typical circuit problem so let's say we

have a battery and we have a current

limiting resistor in series with a Zener

diode that's in a reverse mode now let's

say the rating of the Zener diode is 12

volts now let's say we have a 1 kilo ohm

resistor now what's going to happen if

the battery is a 5 volt battery what is

the current in this circuit is the

circuit on or is it off now because the

input voltage of the circuit is less

than the reverse breakdown voltage of

the Zener diode no current will flow in

a circuit so the circuit is off the

current that's flown in this resistor is

zero amps now let's see if we connect a

voltmeter across the Zener diode

what voltage will it read now because

there's no current flowing in a circuit

the voltage across the resistor is zero

volts so therefore the voltage across

the Zener diode that will be picked up

by a voltmeter will be the same as the

voltage of the battery it will be five

volts because these two they have to add

up to five so now let's use the same

circuit but this time we're going to

increase the voltage of the battery

so let's make it in this case 14 votes

instead of 12 or 5 now is the circuit on

or is it off because the input voltage

exceeds the reverse breakdown voltage of

the Zener diode the circuit is going to

be on and so there's going to be a

current flowing through this resistor so

how can we calculate the current in this

circuit how can we find the answer in

order to find the answer it's important

to understand that the Zener diode

serves as a voltage regulator so as long

as the current is around basically the

characteristic current for this

particular Zener diode let's say if it's

small it's not too large the voltage

across the Zener diode will remain

approximately 12 it might vary a little

but for the most part for all practical

purposes we're gonna say that it's about

12 it could be eleven point nine twelve

point one but it's gonna be fairly

constant so that means that the voltage

across the resistor has to be 2 volts

because these two they have to add up to

the voltage of the battery so we have 2

volts across a 1 kilo ohm resistor so if

we use V equals IR then the voltage will

the current flowing through that

resistor is going to be the voltage

divided by the resistance so it's going

to be 2 volts divided by a thousand ohms

which is going to be point zero zero two

amps or two milliamps so that's the

current that's flowing in this circuit

but it's important to understand that

the Zener diode will maintain a

relatively constant voltage of 12 volts

when it's in reverse bias mode and if

the input voltage exceeds that value

that is the Radin of the Zener diode

now let's increase the voltage of the

battery so let's use the same circuit

with the same components so we have a 12

volt Zener diode but this time let's use

a 50 volt battery so what is the voltage

across the Zener diode and what's gonna

be the current in the circuit in this

case the voltage across the Zener diode

will still be approximately 12 volts

which means the voltage across the

resistor has to be 50 minus 12 or 38

volts so if we take 38 volts divided by

1 kilo ohm that will give us a current

of 38 milliamps flowing through that

resistor and through the entire circuit

so that's how you can easily determine

the current flowing in such a circuit

whenever you have a resistor in series

with a Zener diode now there's a lot of

other stuff that we can do so here's

another circuit let's say if we have a

50 volt battery and let's use a 1 kilo

ohm resistor again but this time we're

going to use 2 Zener diodes as opposed

to 1

now let's say the Radian for each Zener

diode is 12 volts so what is the current

flowing in a circuit now so the input

voltage exceeds the total reverse

voltage of the two Zener diodes which

means the circuits can be on and so the

voltage drop or the voltage across those

two Zener diodes is going to be 12 plus

12 so we're gonna have 24 volts across

those two Zener diodes which means the

voltage across the 1 kilo ohm resistor

it's gonna be 26 because 24 plus 26 adds

up to 50 so if we take 26 volts and

divided by a 1 kilo ohm resister that's

gonna give us a current of 26 milliamps

flowing in a circuit but if you want a

simple way to calculate the current it's

going to be the input voltage which is

50 minus the total reverse voltages of

the total reverse voltage rather of the

two Zener diodes which is 24 and then

you divide that by the 1 kilo ohm

resistor which is a thousand ohms and so

26 divided by thousand that's point is 0

to 6 amps and then you can convert that

to milliamps by multiplying it by a

thousand so here is a generic formula to

calculate the current in the previous

circuits it's going to be the input

voltage minus the total reverse zener

voltage divided by the resistance in a

circuit and so that'll give you the

current flowing in the circuit

now let's say if we have an AC sine wave

connected to a resistor and two Zener

diodes connected like this so what's

gonna happen let's call this point a

let's call this point B and then we'll

call this D 1 and D 2 so when current is

flowing in this direction notice that D

2 the arrow points in the same direction

as the current so in that case that

diode will be in its forward operating

mode which means we'll have a voltage

drop of approximately 0.6 and this diode

it's in reverse mode because it's arrow

is opposite to the direction of the

current so its voltage drop will be 12

so therefore the voltage across a and B

will be twelve point six now let's say

if the current travels in the other

direction by the way let's say this

voltage is greater than twelve point six

let's say it's twenty volts now if the

current is flowing in this direction d2

will have a voltage drop of negative

twelve because it's now in reverse mode

d1 is in forward mode and so the voltage

drop will be the same thus if you have

such a circuit you can convert a sine

wave which will look like this into

basically a clamp wave that looks more

like this

with a voltage of positive 12.6 at the

top and negative 12:26 at the bottom and

so that's it for my video on Zener

diodes hopefully you learned a thing or

two from it and thanks for watching