Experiment No.

04

AIM: To study half-wave and full wave rectifiers (with and without filters).

APPARATUS:
1. Half wave and full wave rectifier kit (using IN4007 Diodes)
2. Digital Multimeter
3. Connecting wires
4. CRO
5. CRO probes.

THEORY:

Half Wave Rectifier

In Half Wave Rectification, when AC supply is applied at the input, only positive half cycle
appears across the load whereas, the negative half cycle is suppressed. This can be
explained as follows:
As shown in Figure 4.1, during positive half-cycle of the input voltage, the diode is in
forward bias and conducts through the load resistor RL. Hence the current produces an
output voltage across the load resistor RL, which has the same shape as the +ve half cycle
of the input voltage. During the negative half-cycle of the input voltage, the diode is reverse
biased and there is no current through the circuit. i.e., the voltage across RL is zero. The net
result is that only the +ve half cycle of the input voltage appears across the load. The
average value of the half wave rectified o/p voltage is the value measured on dc voltmeter.
For practical circuits, transformer coupling is usually provided for two reasons.

1. The voltage can be stepped-up or stepped-down, as needed.

2. The ac source is electrically isolated from the rectifier, thus preventing shockhazards
in the secondary circuit.
Since the diode conducts only in one half-cycle (0-π), it can be verified that the d.c.
component in the output is Vmax/π, where Vmax is the peak value of the voltage. Thus,
𝑉 = = 0.318 𝑉 (4.1)
The current flowing through the resistor,

𝐼 = (4.2)
Power consumed by the load,

𝑃 = (4.3)
Ripple Factor:
As the voltage across the load resistor is only present during the positive half of the cycle,
the resultant voltage is "ON" and "OFF" during every cycle resulting in a low average dc
value. This variation on the rectified waveform is called "Ripple" and is an undesirable

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 Experiment No. 04

feature. The ripple factor is a measure of purity of the d.c. output of a rectifier and is
defined as:

( ) ( . )
𝑟= ( )
= = - 1= − 1 =1.21 (4.4)
( . )

In case of a half-wave rectifier Vrms = Vmax/2 = 0.5Vmax.

Rectification Efficiency:
Rectification efficiency, η, is a measure of the percentage of total a.c. power input
converted to useful d.c. power output.

η= (4.5)

Under the assumption of no diode loss, the rectification efficiency in case of a half-wave
rectifier is approximately 40.5%.

Filters:
The output of a rectifier gives a pulsating d.c. signal (Fig. 4.1) because of presence of some
a.c. components whose frequency is equal to that of the a.c. supply frequency. Very often
when rectifying an alternating voltage, we wish to produce a "steady" direct voltage free
from any voltage variations or ripple. Filter circuits are used to smoothen the output.
Various filter circuits are available such as shunt capacitor, series inductor, choke input LC
filter and π-filter etc. Here we will use a simple shunt capacitor filter circuit (Fig. 4.2). Since
a capacitoris open to d.c. and offers low impedance path to a.c. current, putting a
capacitor across the output will make the d.c. component to pass through the load
resulting in small ripple voltage.

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM:
Half Wave Rectifier:

Figure 4.1: Circuit diagram of half wave rectifier with input and output waveforms

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 Experiment No. 04

Figure 4.2: Waveform of half-wave rectifier

The working of the capacitor can be understood in the following manner. When the
rectifier output voltage is increasing, the capacitor charges to the peak voltage Vm. Just past
the positive peak the rectifier output voltage tries to fall. As the source voltage decreases
below Vm, the capacitor will try to send the current back to diode making it reverse biased.

Smoothing
Capacitor

C Charges C Disharges

Figure 4.3: Circuit diagram of half wave rectifier with filters with input and output
waveforms

Thus, the diode separates/disconnects the source from the load and hence the capacitor
will discharge through the load until the source voltage becomes more than the capacitor
voltage. The diode again starts conducting and the capacitor is again charged to the peak
value Vm andthe process continues. Although in the output waveform the discharging of
capacitor is shown as a straight line for simplicity, the decay is actually the normal
exponential decay of any capacitor discharging through a load resistor. The extent to which
the capacitor voltage drops depends on the capacitance and the amount of current drawn
by the load; these two factors effectively form the RC time constant for voltage decay. A

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 Experiment No. 04

proper combination of large capacitance and small load resistance can give out a steady
output.

Full Wave Rectifier

The circuit of a center-tapped full wave rectifier uses two diodes D1&D2 as shown in Figure
4.4. During positive half cycle of secondary voltage (input voltage), the diode D1 is forward
biased and D2 is reverse biased. So, the diode D1 conducts and current flows through load
resistor RL. During negative half cycle, diode D2 becomes forward biased and D1 reverse
biased. Now, D2 conducts and current flows through the load resistor RL in the same
direction. There is a continuous current flow through the load resistor RL, during both the
half cycles and will get unidirectional current. The difference between full wave and half
wave rectification is that a full wave rectifier allows unidirectional (one way) current to the
load during the entire 360 degrees of the input signal and half-wave rectifier allows this
only during one half cycle (180 degree). The waveforms are illustrated in Figure 4.4.

𝑉 = (4.6)
𝑉 = √
(4.7)

Figure 4.4: Circuit Diagram of Centre-Tap Full Wave Rectifier with input and output
waveforms

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 Experiment No. 04

Figure 4.5: Trainer Board for Rectifier

PROCEDURE:
For Half Wave Rectifier
1. On the trainer board, as shown in Figure 4.5, the solid lines signify the
connections already made; whereas dotted lines are used to indicate the
connections which canbe made using connecting leads.
2. In order to make circuit diagram for half wave rectifier follow the circuit shown
in Fig. 4.1.
3. Connect the P terminal of IN4007 diode with the secondary winding of
transformerproducing 12 V AC.
4. Connect the N terminal of diode with one end of load resistance R.
5. Complete the circuit by connecting the other end of resistor with ground
terminalof transformer.
6. Now connect the CRO before diode to see the input waveform.
7. Now connect the CRO after diode to see the output waveform (output of the
rectifier).
8. Measure the peak voltages across the input terminal Vm (in) and across the
load Vm (out) using CRO.
9. Calculate Vrms (out), Vav(out).
10. Measure the Vrms (in) at the input and Vrms (out) at the output by connecting
voltmeter across input and output terminals.
11. Now connect the filter circuit with rectifier and connect CRO after it to get
output waveform.

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 Experiment No. 04

For Full Wave Rectifier

1. In order to make circuit diagram for full wave rectifier follow the circuit shown in
fig. 4.4.
2. Connect the P terminal of IN4007 diode D1 with the secondary winding of
transformer marked as 12 V AC.
3. Connect the N terminal of diode D1 with one end of variable load resistance R.
4. Similarly connect the P terminal of IN4007 diode D2 with the secondary winding
oftransformer marked as 12 V AC.
5. Connect the N terminal of diode D1 with one end of variable load resistance R.
6. Complete the circuit by connecting the other end of resistor with center terminal
oftransformer marked as 0V.
7. Using a CRO, measure the maximum voltage Vm of the AC input voltage (at
the anode) of the rectifier and AC voltage (at the cathode) at the output of the
rectifier.
8. Calculate Vrms (out), Vav (out) at the output and Vrms (in) at the input terminal.
9.
Measure the Vrms (in) at the input and Vrms (out) at the output by connecting
voltmeter across input and output terminals.
10. Now connect the filter circuit with rectifier and trace the input and output
waveforms in oscilloscope and notice the change.
OBSERVATIONS:

Table(I): Half wave rectifier without filter

S. No Load RL (kΩ) Output Voltage RippleFactor Efficiency

Vac (Volt) dc Vmax/ π η (%)
(Volt) (Volt)
1
2
3

Table (II): Half wave rectifier with filter

S. No Load Output Voltage Ripple Factor

RL (kΩ) Vac (Volt) Vdc (Volt) r
1
2
3
4

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 Experiment No. 04

Table (III): Full wave rectifier without filter

S. No Load RL Output Voltage RippleFactor Efficiency

(kΩ) Vac (Volt) Vdc 2 Vmax/ π η (%)
(Volt) (Volt)
1
2
3

Table (IV): Full wave rectifier with filter

S. No Load Output Voltage Ripple Factor

RL (kΩ) Vac (Volt) Vdc (Volt) r
1
2
3

EXPERIMENT WITH BREADBOARD:

Components Required:

S. No. Components Specifications Quantity

1. Breadboard --- 2
2. Diode 1N4007 2
3. Resistances 1KΩ-10KΩ 1
4. Capacitor 0.1µF 1
5. Capacitor 47µF 1
6. Digital Voltmeter --- 1
7. Digital Multimeter --- 1
8. Digital Ammeter --- 1
9. CRO --- 1
10. Transformer --- 1

1. Connect the resistor(s) and diode(s) on breadboard as shown in figure 4.6 and 4.7.
2. Connect the power and ground inputs to the + and – columns of the breadboard,
respectively.
3. Make the power supply connections from the diode and resistor.
4. Connect the CRO for getting rectified waveforms.

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 Experiment No. 04

5. Complete the procedure for half-wave and full-wave rectifier.

Figure 4.6: Breadboard connections of half-wave rectifier

Figure 4.7: Breadboard connections of full-wave rectifier

PRECAUTIONS:
1. The connections should be neat and tight.
2. Do not switch ON the trainer board without checking and verifying the connections.
3. It should be ensured that the applied voltage do not exceed the ratings of the
diode(maximum by 2V).
4. The polarities of all the diodes should be carefully identified.
5. The primary and secondary side of the transformer should be carefully identified.

CONCLUSION: -
Hence the wave shapes for half-wave and full-wave rectifiers have been verified along with
Vrms.

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