DIODE RECTIFIER CIRCUITS PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND ‘The purpose of this experiment is to demonstrate the characteristics of three different diode rectifier circuits: half-wave reetifier, center- tapped full-wave rectifier, and full-wave bridge rectifier. Each type causes an ac input voltage to be converted into a pulsed waveform having an average, or de, voltage output. Text References: 2-2, Half-Wave Rectifiers; 2-3, Full-Wave Rec- tiffers. REQUIRED PARTS AND EQUIPMENT 1D L-KO resistor, 1/2 W Dual trace oscilloscope Bi Four 1N4001 ‘silicon VOM or DMM rectifier diodes Gi Breadboarding socket Co 12.6-V rms secondary center-tapped transformer 2324 USEFUL FORMULAS Half-wave rectifier vse (2) de voltage output = ¥8—¥2 (sine wave input) (2) Diode PIV = V, (3) Output frequency = input frequency Center-tapped full-wave rectifier (& de voltage output = 2¥8— Ye (eine wave input) (5) Diode PIV -2V,, (6) Output frequency 2 x input frequency Full-wave bridge rectifier 25 = Vb) (gine wave input) (7) de voltage output = (8) Diode PIV = Vp (9) Output frequency 2 x input frequency PROCEDURE 1 3 Wire the half-wave rectifier circuit shown in Figure 2-1A, paying careful attention to the polarity of the IN4001 diode. You should be very careful to be sure that your connections to the 117-V pri- maty of the transformer are properly protected so that you will not get a shock by accidentally touching them. Furthermore, you should have a 1/2-A fuse on the primary side of the trans- former. Note that neither of the transformer's primary leads is, grounded, while the center-tapped secondary lead is not used in this section! Set your oscilloscope to the following approximate settings: Channels 1 and 2: 10 Vidivision, de coupling ‘Time base: 5 ms/division Apply 117 VAC (rms) to the transformer’s primary leads. Con- nect one scope probe to the anode terminal of the 1N4001 diode (point A), and the other probe to the diode’s cathode terminal (point B). If everything is working properly, you should obtain the waveforms shown in Figure 2-2. Measure the transformer's peak secondary voltage (Vs), as well as the peak voltage (Vp) across the 1-k0? resistor, recording your results in Table 2-1. Are the two readings the same?=4 a urvac aivvac «. FIGURE 2-1 Schematic diagram of circuits. ‘You should find that these two readings differ slightly. The voltage difference is the barrier potential of the diode (Va), which is approximately 0.7 V for silicon diodes. When the peak voltage is at least ten times larger than this diode voltage drop, the barrier potential usually can be safely neglected, so that these two readings can be considered essentially the same. With your VOM or DMM, measure the de voltage (Vic) across the 1-k0 resistor, and record your result in Table 2-1. Compare this result with that obtained from the equation for the average or de voltage of a half-wave rectifier (Equation 1). Observe both waveforms. Notice that the frequency of the rectified output sine wave is the same as that of the input sine wave, even though half of each cycle of the output is zero. Why? 5. Turn off the power to the transformer, and wire the center- tapped full-wave rectifier circuit shown in Figure 2-1B. Again, pay careful attention to the polarity of both diodes and the26 Point 4 10 V/divsion Point 8 10 V/division FIGURE 2-2 Time base: 5 ms/division. connections to the 117-V primary of the transformer. The center-tapped lead is grounded for this section 6. Now set your oscilloscope to the following approximate settings: Channels 1 and 2: 5 Vidivision, de coupling ‘Time base: 5 ms/division Apply 117 VAC (rms) to the transformer’s primary leads. Con- nect one probe to the anode terminal of the 1N4001 diode (point A), and the other probe to one of the diode’s eathode terminals (point B). If everything is working properly, you should obtain the waveforms as shown in Figure 2-3. 7, Measure the transformers peak secondary voltage (V5) with re- spect to the grounded center tap, as well as the peak voltage (Vp) across the 1-kQ resistor, recording your results in Table 2-1, How do these readings compare with those of Step 3? The peak secondary voltage should be half that of Step 3. 8 With your VOM or DMM, measure the de voltage (Voc) across the 1-k0 resistor, and record your result in Table 2-1. Compare this result with that obtained from the equation for the average or de voltage of a center-tapped full-wave rectifier (Equation 4). ‘Observe both waveforms. Notice that the frequency of the rectified output sine wave is now twice that of the input sine wave. Why? 9. Turn off the power to the transformer, and wire the full-wave bridge rectifier circuit shown in Figure 2-1C. Pay careful at- tention to the polarity of all four diodes and the connections to the 117-V primary of the transformer. The center-tapped lead is not used for this section. Remove the oscilloscope probe from. the anode of the diode.Point 4 SV/division Point 8 V/Aivision FIGURE 2-3 Time base: 5 msidivision. 10. Apply 117 VAC (rms) to the transformer’s primary leads. With the channel set to de coupling, connect only the probe to the ungrounded lead of the 1-k0 resistor (point A). If everything is working properly, you should obtain the same full-wave rec- tified waveform obtained in Step 6. 11. Measure the peak voltage (Vp) across the 1-k0 resistor, record- ing your result in Table 2-1. How does this reading for Vp compare with those of Steps 3 and 7? The peak secondary voltage should be the same as that of Step 3 and twice that of Step 7. In addition, you should find that the peak voltage across the 1-kf? resistor is smaller than the secondary voltage by twice the barrier potential. Why? 12, With your VOM or DMM, measure the de voltage (Voc) across the 1-k0 resistor, and record your result in Table 2-1. Compare this result with that obtained from the equation for the average or de voltage of a full-wave bridge rectifier (Equation 7) Observe both waveforms. Notice that the frequency of the rectified output sine wave is twice that of the input sine wave. Why? WHAT YOU HAVE DONE This experiment compared the output characteristics of three types of rectifier circuits: half-wave rectifier, full-wave rectifier using a center-tapped transformer secondary, and a full-wave bridge recti- fier. Each converts an ac voltage into a pulsed waveform having an average or de voltage output.NOTES‘Name —___________ Date DIODE RECTIFIER CIRCUITS OBJECTIVES/PURPOSE: SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM: (© 1992 Macmillan Pubishing Compary. Alright reserved.Name DATA FOR EXPERIMENT 2 TABLE 2-1 Center-Tapped Half Wave | Full-Wave Rectifier Rectifier Bridge Full: Wave Rectifier Same as conter-tapped full-wave rectifier (©1982 Macmillan Publishing Company. Al rights reserved.Name —_________ Date RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR EXPERIMENT 2 A For the half-wave rectifier circuit of Figure 2-14, the peak load voltage is approximately (@)6V ()12V © 18V (a) 24 For an input frequency of 60 Hz, the period of the half-wave signal is approximately (a) 4ms (b)8ms (ce) 16 ms_(d) 32 ms Compared to the de output voltage of the half-wave rectifier of Figure 2-1A, the de output voltage of the full-wave bridge rectifier of Figure 2-1C is approximately (a) one-half as large (b) the same —_(¢) twice as large In this experiment, the rectifier circuit that has the lowest diode peak inverse voltage is the (a) half-wave rectifier (b) full-wave center-tapped rectifier (©) full-wave bridge rectifier () both a and ¢ In this experiment, the rectifier circuit that has the greatest de output voltage is the (a) half-wave rectifier _(b) full-wave center-tapped rectifier (©) full-wave bridge rectifier (©1992 Macmilan Publishing Company. Al rights reserved 3132 NOTES