A Project Report

On

RECTIFIER
Submitted to

THE OPTIMUS PUBLIC SCHOOL

BHAVANI, ERODE, TAMILNADU-638455

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the

CBSE of SENIOR SECONDARY

GRADE-XII

In

Subject

PHYSICS

By:

S.NISHANTH
Under the guidance of
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

THE OPTIMUS PUBLIC SCHOOL

CBSE-SENIOR SECONDARY

Affiliation no: 1930278

ERODE, TAMILNADU-638455

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 THE OPTIMUS PUBLIC SCHOOL
BHAVANI, ERODE, TAMILNADU-638455

2024-2025

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project entitled “RECTIFIER” is a
record of bonafide work carried out by S.NISHANTH,
R.NO _________________.In partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the award of CBSE of senior secondary in
PHYSICS GRADE XII, 2024-2025

PRINCIPAL

INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER

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 DECLARATION

I undersigned, hereby declare that the project titled

“RECTIFIER” submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of
CBSE of senior secondary Grade XII is a bonafide record work
done in PHHYSICS , THE OPTIMUS PUBLIC SCHOOL ,ERODE.
This report has not previously formed the basis for the award of
any degree or similar title of any other board.

S.NISHANTH
GRADE-XII

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my gratitude to the people who have

helped and supported me throughout the project . I am
grateful to my teacher for her continuous support for the
project , from initial advice and contracts in the early stages
of conceptual inception and through on going advice and
encouragement to this day.
I wish to thank my parents for their undivided support and
interest who inspired me and encouraged me to go my own
way, without whom I would be unstable to complete my
project. I would like to thank my friends who appreciated me
for my work and motivated me and finally to god who made
all things happen.

S.NISHANTH
GRADE-XII

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 INDEX

S.NO TOPICS PAGE NO

1 Introduction 6

2 Full wave rectifier 7

3 Have wave rectifier 12

4 Precaution 18

5 Comparison between full wave and half 19

wave rectifier

6 Bibliography 20

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INTRODUCTION
A rectifier is an electronic device that converts an alternating
current into a direct current by using one or more P-N junction
diodes. A diode behaves as a one-way valve that allows current
to flow in a single direction. This process is known as rectification.
A rectifier can take the shape of several physical forms such as
solid-state diodes, vacuum tube diodes, mercury-arc valves,
silicon-controlled rectifiers, and various other silicon-based
semiconductors switches.
Different Types of Rectifier
Rectifiers are mainly classified into two types as:
1. Half-wave rectifier
2. Full wave rectifier

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FULL WAVE RECTIFIER
A full wave rectifier is a device which is used to rectify all the
alternating current components in an alternating supply and make
it purely a direct current. The two alternating halves of an
alternation current are rectified in a full wave rectifier which is an
advantage over a half wave rectifier. Most electronic devices
cannot withstand very high voltage or alternating current due to its
intense high power. The use of batteries in all devices is not
practical as their replacement and durability is a huge problem as
the device has to be dismantled each time for such a
replacement. So, these rectifiers are used in most of the
electronic devices like TV’s, Radios, Chargers, and Lightings etc.

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MATERIAL REQUIRED

 Connecting wires
 A plug
 Single lead wire – 2m
 3 nuts & Bolts 2 to 3cm length
 Circuit board
 A Transformer
 A capacitor
 A Resistor (1 K Ω)
 P-N junction diodes
 A LED
 Insulation tape
 Blades
 soldering wax
 soldering lead
 soldering iron
 sand pape

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

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CONNECTION DETAILS:
Connections are done as in the circuit. The A.C. supply is given
to both the input wires of the transformer and the two ends of the
secondary coil is given to the P side of the two diodes and the N
side of the diodes are twined and then connected to one end of
the capacitor and the other end to the centre tap lead and to the
resistor. Further, the other end of capacitor with the diode connect
ion is connected to the other end of the resistor. Connect 2 leads
on both the ends of the resistor to measure the output and this is
connected to the +ve & -ve terminals of the bulb.
WORKING
1st when the A.C. is supplied to the transformer, it steps down the
230V main supply to 6 volts. It has a capability of delivering a
current of 500mA. The 6 volts A.C. appearing across the
secondary is the RMS value and the peak value is 8.4 volts.
During the 1st half cycle of the A.C. input Diode D1 is forward
biased and a current ‘I’ flows in the circuit in the direction S 1D1
ABEOS1. During this time diode D2 is reverse biased. So, it does
not conduct any electric current. During the next half cycle, the
diodeD2 is forward and D1 is reversed. Hence D2 conducts
current in the direction S2D2 ABEOS2and D1 does not conduct
any current. In subsequent half cycles of the A.C current the
above processes are repeated.
In both the half cycles it is clear that current flows through the
resistor in only one direction ABE. Even though the voltage
across RL is unidirectional it will still contain a few A.C
components. This is filtered and made smooth using a capacitor,
which filters 99% of the A.C current. A resistor is then used to

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adjust the output voltage. Capacitor also nearly filters all A.C
components from the supply and resistance is adjusted for the
required output. As this is a simple circuit, only one capacitor and
a resistance are being used. But there will be slight factor of A.C.
current still left in the output but it is negligible. The output Direct
Current and voltage light up the LED.
GRAPHS

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APPLICATION
Because of their low cost compared to centre tapped, they are
widely used in power supply circuit.
This can be used to detect the amplitude of modulated radio
signal.
Bridge rectifiers can be used to supply polarized voltage in
welding.
In daily life, rectifier find use in mobile chargers.
These rectifiers are used in most of the electronic devices like
TV’s, Radios, Chargers, and Lightings etc.

MERITS:
The rectification efficiency of full wave rectifier is double of that of
a half wave rectifier.
The ripple voltage is low and of higher Frequency in case of a full
wave rectifier so simple filtering circuit is required.
Higher output voltage higher output power and higher TUF in
case of a full wave rectifier
In a full wave rectifier, there is no problem due to DC saturation of
the core because the DC currents in the two halves of the
transformer secondary flow in opposite directions

DEMERITS:
Full wave rectifier needs more circuit elements and is costlier.

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HALF WAVE RECTIFIER
The half-wave rectifier circuit is made by using a semiconductor
diode (D) with a load resistance . The diode is connected in series
with the secondary of the transformer and the load resistance .
The primary of the transformer is being connected to the ac
supply mains.
The ac voltage across the secondary winding changes polarities
after every half cycle of input wave. During the positive half-cycles
of the input ac voltage i.e. when upper end of the secondary
winding is positive with respect to its lower end, the diode is
forward biased and therefore conducts current. If the forward
resistance of the diode is assumed to be zero (in practice,
however, a small resistance exists) the input voltage during the
positive half-cycles is directly applied to the load resistance ,
making its upper end positive with respect to its lower end. The
waveforms of the output current and output voltage are of the
same shape as that of the input ac voltage.
During the negative half cycles of the input ac voltage i.e. when
the lower end of the secondary winding is positive with respect to
its upper end, the diode is reverse biased and so does not
conduct. Thus, during the negative half cycles of the input ac
voltage, the current through and voltage across the load remains
zero. The reverse current, being very small in
magnitude, is neglected. Thus, for the negative half cycles no
power is delivered to the load.
Thus, the output voltage (VL) developed across load resistance R
is a series of positive half cycles of alternating voltage, with

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intervening very small constant negative voltage levels, It is
obvious from the figure that the output is not a steady dc, but only
a pulsating dc wave. To make the output wave smooth and useful
in a DC power supply, we have to use a filter across the load.
Since only half-cycles of the input wave are used, it is called a
half wave rectifier.
Output of half wave rectifier is not a constant DC voltage. In real
life applications, we need a power supply with smooth wave
forms. In other words, we desire a DC power supply with constant
output voltage. A constant output voltage from the DC power
supply is very important as it directly impacts the reliability of the
electronic device we connect to the power supply.
We can make the output of half wave rectifier smooth by using a
filter (a capacitor filter or an inductor filter) across the diode. In
some case resistor-capacitor coupled filter (RC) is also used.

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MATERIAL REQUIRED
Diode
Capacitor (50v)
Voltmeter
Resistance box
Ac supply
Wires for connection
PROCEDURE
Take an AC Supply and connect it to switch.
Connect the terminal part of the AC to the p part of the diode
using wire.
Now Connect the other part of the AC terminal to the Capacitor.
Connect the n-part of the diode to the capacitor.
Connect the both ends of a capacitor to the resistance box.
Place a connection between voltmeter and resistance box by
joining the terminals of voltmeter.
Now power on the switch and find out the resultant voltage by
changing the resistance box.
Calculate the current by measuring the mean voltage and
resistance using ohm’s law.

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CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

GRAPH

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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

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.

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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
ADVANTAGE OF HALF WAVE RECTIFIER
Simple circuit with a smaller number of components
Economical at initial state. Although there is a higher cost over
time due to more power losses
DISADVANTAGE OF HALF WAVE RECTIFIER
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)

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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.

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COMPARISION BETWEEN FULL WAVE AND
HALF WAVE RECTIFIER

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
 wikipedia.com
 Google Search Engine
 Knowledgecycle.in/half-wave-rectifier-project
 dcaclab.com/blog/half-wave-rectifier
 electrical4u.com/half-wave-rectifiers

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