INDEX
CONTENT PAGE NO.
Topic 2
Introduction 3
Materials required 4
Procedure 5
Circuit Diagram/ Graph 6
Observation/ Result 7
Application 8
Limitation 9
Precaution 10
Conclusion 11
Bibliography 12
1|Page
AIM
“MEASUREMENT OF CURRENT
USING HALFWAVE RECTFIER”
2|Page
Introduction
A rectifier a simple diode or group of diodes which
converts the Alternating Current (AC) into Direct
Current (DC).
We know that a diode allows electric current in one
direction and blocks electric current in another
direction. We are using this principle to construct
various types of rectifiers.
Rectifiers are classified into different types based on
the number of diodes used in the circuit or
arrangement of diodes in the circuit. The basic types
of rectifiers are: half wave rectifier and full wave
rectifier.
A half wave rectifier is a type of rectifier which
converts the positive half cycle (positive current) of
the input signal into pulsating DC (Direct Current)
output signal. The half wave rectifier is the simplest
form of the rectifier. We use only a single diode to
construct the half wave rectifier.
The half wave rectifier is made up of an AC source,
transformer (step-down), diode, and resistor (load).
The diode is placed between the transformer and
resistor (load).
3|Page
Material Required
Diode
Capacitor(50v)
Voltmeter
Resistance box
Ac supply
Wires for connection
4|Page
Procedure
1. Take an AC Supply and connect it to switch.
2. Connect the terminal part of the AC to the p
part of the diode using wire.
3. Now Connect the other part of the AC
terminal to the Capacitor.
4. Connect the n-part of the diode to the
capacitor.
5. Connect the both ends of a capacitor to the
resistance box.
6. Place a connection between voltmeter and
resistance box by joining the terminals of
voltmeter.
7. Now power on the switch and find out the
resultant voltage by changing the resistance
box.
8. Calculate the current by measuring the
mean voltage and resistance using ohm’s
law.
5|Page
Circuit Diagram
Graph
6|Page
Observation
Resistance (in Ω) Volt (in V)
1 0.7
2 1.1
3 1.4
4 1.6
5 1.8
Result
The average current produced by Half-wave rectifier
is 0.264 Ampere.
7|Page
Application
In day-to-day life, the half-wave rectifier is mostly
used in low power applications because of its major
disadvantage being the output amplitude which is
less than the input amplitude. Thus, power is wasted
and output is pulsated DC resulting in excessive
ripple.
Some of the uses and applications of rectifiers are
in:
Appliances
Used with transformers
Soldering
AM radio
Pulse generated circuits
Single demodulation
Voltage multiplier
8|Page
Limitation
Converts only one cycle of the sinusoidal
input given to it and the other cycle gets
wasted. Thus, giving more power loss.
HWR produces lower output voltage.
The output current thus obtained is not
purely DC and it still contains a lot of ripple
(i.e. it has a high ripple factor)
9|Page
Precaution
Do not switch on the circuit before checking
whether it is correct or not
The connection between voltmeter and
resistance box should be made correctly.
Connect all the wires properly. Loose
connection may end up in failure of circuit.
Capacitor of less volt may be connected to
the diode.
Diode should be connected in forward bias.
10 | P a g e
Conclusion
A half wave rectifier is rarely used in practice. It
is never preferred as the power supply of an
audio. circuit because of the very high ripple
factor. High ripple factor will result in noises in
input audio signal, which in turn will affect audio
quality.
Advantage of a half wave rectifier is only that its
cheap, simple and easy to construct. It is cheap
because of the low number of components
involved. Simple because of the straight
forwardness in circuit design.
Measuring the mean current flow helps us to
understand the amount of AC current passed
through the circuit.
11 | P a g e
Bibliography
wikipedia.com
NCERT CLASS 12 PHYSICS
TEXTBOOK
Google Search Engine
LABORATORY MANUAL OF PHYSICS
12 | P a g e
