Laboratory2

Physics117
EnriqueSegura
a) IusedtheLCmetertomeasurethecapacitanceofthe0.01microfarads(10nanofarads)in
series.Itisworthnothingthattheexpectedvalueforacapacitorsystemisgivenareciprocal
relationshipbetweenthetwo.Thus,itcomesasnosurprisethatthevaluefromthetheoryis
of200microfarads.However,thatisnotthecaseasthecapacitors inquestionsarenot
precisely 0.01microfarads; rather, oneofthemis 10nanofarads,whiletheotheris 9.2
nanofarads. Thus, when measuring this the results comes to be between 4.9 and 4.8
nanofarads.Asforparallelcapacitors,19.3microfaradsaremeasuredwhichshouldcome
asnosurprisereallysincetheequivalentcapacitanceofasystemofcapacitorsinparallelis
theadditionoftheirindividualcapacitance.
Now,IreadforthecapacitorusedinpartBthefollowingnumber,103.Fromtherules,that
means10x103picofarad,whichis1x104x1012whichis1x108whichis10x109which
is10nanofarads,asexpected.
b) Thisfirstcircuitiswhatwecallalowpassfilterdesignedtokeepouthighfrequencies
whenobservingtheoutput,inourcasewithanoscilloscope. Frombasicelectricityand
magnetismprinciples,weknowthissystemisboundbythefollowingaperiodicityfroma
drivingfrequency.Inourcase,suchisprovidedbythefunctiongenerator.However,the
time constant comes from the constrains in the circuit, which for this circuit are the
impedanceduetotheresistorandthereactanceduetothecapacitor.Giventhevaluesof9.8
kiloohmsfortheresistor,and0.013microfarads.Inthiscase,itisaround96microseconds.
Forrisetime,whenthebatteryischarging,takethetimeequivalenttotheRCtimeconstant,
thusmakingthefactoradjustmenttobeof63%;takethedischargingapproach,itisthe
reverseofthis,37%,whichmakessenseduetochargeconservation.Granted,Iadmit,that
wasntagreatexplanationbutthatishowIunderstoodit.Theoutputfromthecircuitas
shownintheoscilloscope.

Figure1:FallTimeofCapacitor.

c) Thiscircuitiswhatisknownasahighpassfilter.Bothofthesetwofiltersworkasifthe
coffee filter, onlyallowingthepassofeitherhighinthiscase(orlow intheprevious)
frequencies.Thisworksforathighfrequencies,thecapacitorlooksasifitwerejustwire
hencewhyatlowfrequenciessuchwouldntpass(itwillbeanopenswitch).Thus,atno
frequency,yougetnothingpassingthroughthecapacitor,andatinfinitefrequencyyouwill
getthevoltagedropfromtheresistor.
Now,asfortheoutput,itdoes!Seebelow.

Figure2:TheDifferentiator
Itisimportanttounderscorethatthekeyinthisparticularpictureistonoticethelag,asthe
output,acosine,isoutofphase.Ideally,itshouldbeoutofphaseby90degrees.However,
inmyexperience,itwasclearwhenusingasquarewavefunctionasyouwouldseevery
niceDiracDeltafunctions!
d) Theintegratoristheopposite,ofcourse,ofwhatwasdiscussedabove.Thekeydifferenceis
intheflipofthecapacitorandtheresistor.Thisshouldcomeasnosurprise,forthecapacitor
isprovidingthephasechange.Thisisaformofamuchdeeperfactofthecapacitor:this
hardwarehasamemorylikefeaturethataidsonshowingthechangeinthevoltage.
Pleaseseetheoutputbelow
Asforthesinefunction,yesitwasquitetroublesome,butitwasanintegralonethat
requiredcloselooking!Itssimplyaquadraticfunctionadjustingfortherightphase.TheRC
conditionsaremetandareobservedinthesemeasurements.

e) Inusinganintegratorasalowpassfilter,itisimportanttohighlighttheideaofacutoff.We
wanttoignorecertainfrequenciesalcoffeefunnelinfavoraspecificfrequencyrange.
Thisiswherethe3dBfrequencycomesin.Inourcase,thisfrequencyis1.6kilohertz.The
rangesherearedescribedthroughthestopbandatitsdeepest,thephasegoesto90degrees
thenwehavethepassbandatitsdeepestyouhavethenophaseandthe3dBpoint.
Theconceptofattenuation,thedissipationofpower,isimportantasitobservedinthispart
of the lab. For this, we introduced 1 volt and observed an output of 750 milivolts
dissipationof250milivolts.
Now, as for the technique learned in this specific part of the lab, it is paramount to
understandwhytheSYNCissoimportant:itallowstheusertofocustheoriginaloutputof
thegeneratorandlockitinthescope.Thus,ifImakechangestothecircuittoseeany
changesinoutput,Istillgettheoriginaloutputaswellasareference.
f) Fromthepreviouspartsofthelabitisclearthatflippingplacesbetweenthecapacitorand
theresistorchangesthefilterfromlowtohigh.
Pleaseseebelowthesweepingoutput.

Figure3:SweepingofaHighFilter
Itiscleartoseethetwoblobsseparatingthefrequencies,fromlowonthebottom,and
highinthetop.Thus,exemplifyingthisasafilter.
g) Iwillstartbyaddressingfirsttheoptionalquestion:athighfrequencies,theoutputisgreater
than the input, and at low frequencies the reverse is true. The reason is that at higher
frequenciestheinternalimpendencesofthewiresarenolongerofnoconsequence,thus
creatingthebreakageofratiosweexpectonthe1:1conditions.

h) Again,theissueofattenuationisshowntobe,inthiscondition,tobe0.7timesthevoltage
obtained.Inthiscasewegofrom120voltsto12voltsinaccordancetotheratioofthis
transformer.Adjustingthevoltagebytheappropriatefactorgivesusaround85volts.Thus,
thisiswhythepeaktopeakisnotquitetheappropriateamountduetotheattenuation.

Figure4:AttenuationandNoiseonaTransformer
i) Thepolarityofthiscapacitorisduetothematerialinquestionitonlyallowsthecurrent
flowonewayatcertainareasofthemetal.
Now,forthiscircuitIhaddiscloseIhadtoredoit.Thejunctionbetweenthethreeobjects
wasfranklyconfusing.Butheresthebottomline:thefirstcircuit,A,bringsintheDCsignal
tothesystem.BecauseofthepolarityitpreventsthecapacitorfromlockingitDCsignal
downtotheACsignal.Thus,theDCsignalisindependent.Icrankedupthevoltagefrom
thepowersupplyupanddownanditmoveaccordingly.
However,thesituationchangedasthecircuitBisintroduced.Theflippedpolaritytakesthe
outputfromthefirstpartofthecircuitandeffectivelycancelsanyinfluencetheDCcircuit
could have. It comes from the fact this flip blocks any DC signal filtering out that
frequency.Thus,anchoringthesignalinplacewiththeACsignal.

Figure5:CircuitsAandBconnected.
Asforthelowfrequencyofthisbreakingcircuit,pleaseseethefigurebelowshowingthe
measurements.

Figure6:LowFrequencyofBlockingCircuit.
Forthisparticularcircuitwefoundthelowfrequency300milihertz.Moreover,asyoucan
see,theoutputofthiscircuit,thefrequencyaftergoingthroughthefilter,isoutofphase,
roughly45degreesoutofphasethisIgotfromtalkingwithProf.Saltzberg.
Andfinally,seethefigurebelowforthephysicallookofthecircuitscombined.Itisworth
notingthatIhadtochangethebreadboardasthepreviouslyuseddidnotprovideareliable
connection.Thus,IhadtodebugaidedbytheProfsfeedbacktextsbypluggingthetwo
resistorsbythemselves,andprovidetheDCvoltagetocheckfortheappropriatedrop.This
waslackinginthepreviousbreadboard.Itisworthnotingtheimportanceofusingonerow
forthethreecomponentsincircuitAtomeet,asisthecareonehastohaveinusingtheright
polarity.

Figure7:TheCircuitsCombinedintheBreadboard.