Crisostomo, Richmond L.

App Phys 185 Experiment 1 Report

Sevilla Christopher Gerard R. January 24, 2018

Input-output curves of half and full wave rectifiers

1 Objectives
• Recall from previous electronics course the use and assembly of half/full wave rectifiers.

• To obtain and explain the input-output curves of simple half and full wave rectifiers.

2 Experiment Notes
In the experiment, we used blue LEDs as diodes and a 1 kΩ load resistor.
The generated triangle wave input signal used for the analysis of the input-output (I-O) curve of a half-
wave rectifier had an initial amplitude of 3.00 V and a frequency of 140 Hz, and was increased to 4.00 V in
0.50 V increments. This resulted to obtaining three I-O curves for a half-wave rectifier for varying input
signal amplitude. An image of the circuit along with I-O curve shown in the oscilloscope is seen in Figure
1a.
Afterwards, the generated triangle wave input signal used for the analysis of the I-O curve of a full-wave
rectifier had an amplitude of 6.00 V and frequency of 70 Hz. This was in order for all the blue LEDs to be
observed as lit – when the voltage was below 6.00 V the LEDs would dim and would not be seen as brightly
lit. This

(a) (b)

Figure 1: The (a) half-wave rectifier circuit together with its I-O curve and the (b) full-
wave rectifier circuit with time plot of input signal voltage. Notice that the I-O curve of
a half-wave rectifier circuit consist of a flat line followed by a sloping line. Further, since
the input signal for the full-wave rectifier is a triangle wave, it is observed as one through
the oscilloscope.

However, problems were faced in generating output signal for the full-wave rectifier as the act of measuring
the input and output signal voltages warped from expected results. These are further seen in Figure 2.
When measuring input and output signal in the circuit, the waveforms observed in the oscilloscope
did not match predicted waveforms. Further, as seen in Figure 2a, doing so only two of the four LEDs
lit up at brighter intensity. In the course of troubleshooting the circuit, it was found out that grounding
the resistor as a result of measuring output signal voltage seemed to cause the problem described earlier.
This was concluded from the fact that when only the positive probe was connected to the resistor, input
signal waveform matched predicted waveform, however output signal waveform was still distorted. After
several attempts, it was speculated to occur because of a grounding problem present in the oscilloscope
when measuring the voltage across resistor.

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Crisostomo, Richmond L. App Phys 185 Experiment 1 Report
Sevilla Christopher Gerard R. January 24, 2018

(a) (b)

Figure 2: Two major problems faced in the experiment. In both (a) and (b), yellow and
blue lines mark input and output signals respectively. In (a) only two of four LEDs light up
with greater intensity when input and output signal voltages were measured, and observed
waveforms are warped. Also, in (b) when input and output signals were measured but
output signal probe not grounded, all four LEDs light up and only output signal was
warped. This seemed to occur due to a grounding problem in the oscilloscope.

3 Results
Figures 3 and 4 shown are the main results of this experiment.

1.6
4 3. 00 V
1.4 3. 50 V
Output Voltage (V)

1.2 4. 00 V
2 1.0
Voltage (V)

0.8
0
0.6
2 0.4
0.2
Input Signal 0.0
4 Output Signal
30 20 10 0 10 20 30 0.2 4 2 0 2 4
Time (ms) Input Voltage (V)
(a) (b)

Figure 3: The (a) input and output signal waveforms where input signal amplitude is
4.00 volt and frequency 140 Hz, and corresponding (b) I-O curve for half-wave rectifier.
Notice that output signal is positive only when the input signal is also positive. However
it seems there is a threshold input voltage so that output signal will begin to rise, which
is ∼ 2.80 V here. Further, observe that the I-O curve half-wave rectifier doesn’t change as
the input signal amplitude is increased.

4 Discussion
We have first encountered a positive half-wave rectifier. As we can see from Figure 3a, the input alternating-
current (AC) of a triangle waveform results into an output of a pulsating direct-current (DC) signal. This is
due to the fact that diodes allow passage of electric current only in one direction. Particularly in this case,
a positive half-wave rectifier. It is seen that it is forward/reverse-biased allowing/blocking electric current
during the positive/negative cycle. It lets through the positive cycle of the input, however reducing the
voltage. While it completely blocks the negative cycle. Hence a pulsating positive cycle is observed.

2
Crisostomo, Richmond L. App Phys 185 Experiment 1 Report
Sevilla Christopher Gerard R. January 24, 2018

8 4.5
6 4.0

Output Voltage (V)

4 3.5
3.0
Voltage (V)
2
2.5
0
2.0
2
1.5
4 1.0
6 Input Signal 0.5
Output Signal 6. 00 V
830 20 10 0 10 20 30 0.0 8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8
Time (ms) Input Voltage (V)
(a) (b)

Figure 4: The theoretical (a) input and output signal waveforms where input signal
amplitude is 6.00 V and frequency 70 Hz, and corresponding theoretical I-O curve for
full-wave rectifier. These theoretical values were obtained with the help of simulation
falstad.com/circuit. Notice that since output signal is always positive independent of
input signal, I-O curve resembles an absolute value function.

As it was observed from Figure 3b, it only allows passing through of positive values, specifically those
exceeding input voltage of roughly 3.00 V. It is seen that voltage is reduced passing through the circuit of
resistor and diode. Note entirely the positive half-cycle is allowed to pass through, only a certain threshold
in the upper-limit of the positive cycle. It is seen that indeed, the I-O curve corresponds clearly to the
transformation of the input signal to the output signal.
Finally, consider a full-wave rectifier. Comparing with the previous rectifier, this allows conversion of
both positive and negative cycles into a pulsating DC signal. Since the negative cycle is not neglected,
more amount of power can be used. It is expected from the signal vs. time graph that the input AC of a
triangle wave will result into an output of a positive signal, allowing the positive cycle to pass through and
“inverting” the negative cycles into a positive one. This is effectively an “absolute value” transformation of
the input signal. As what was experienced in previous electronics courses, the output waveform corresponds
to a constant polarity (+ or −) output. In this case a constant positive output. It could be inferred that
the I-O curve of this system is an absolute value function with domain [−Vmax , Vmax ].
Indeed we sat that I-O response curves of different systems gives more detail to how they work and how
the output signal is modified from the input signal. This could be very useful in electronics applications,
sensor-construction, and even in control systems design.

References
[1] Power Diodes and Rectifiers. Electronics Tutorials. Web. January 24, 2018.
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/diode/diode 5.html
[2] Half-Wave Rectifiers. Circuits Today. Web. January 24, 2018.
http://www.circuitstoday.com/half-wave-rectifiers

[3] Full-Wave Rectifier. Visionics. January 24, 2018.

http://www.visionics.a.se/Full%20Wave%20Rectifier1.aspx

5 Author Contribution
Crisostomo, Richmond Sevilla, Christopher
• Troubleshooted rectifier circuits; took pic- • Constructed rectifier circuits; analyzed
tures of setup and output; wrote discussion; data; generated theoretical data for full-
sent report. wave rectifier circuit; finalized report.