Flashing LED Experiment

Michael J. Lowry

ENGR196 – Introduction to Engineering

October 1, 2013
Purpose

The purpose of this experiment is to simulate, build, and test a circuit that causes a light-emitting diode
(LED) to flash.

Materials Required

The following components are required to build the flashing LED circuit:

• One solderless breadboard (“protoboard”)

• One 555 timer integrated circuit (IC)
• One 100 µF capacitor
• Resistors: one 680 Ω, two 4.7 kΩ
• One red light-emitting diode (LED)

Equipment Required

The following equipment is needed to simulate and test the circuit:

• Multisim circuit simulation software

• Power supply capable of +9 V
• Digital multimeter

Circuit Schematic

The schematic of the flashing LED circuit is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 – Circuit for Flashing LED

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Circuit Calculations

The off and on times for the flashing LED were calculated using the following equations:

t OFF = 0.7C EXT (R1 + R2 )

 R + 2 R2 
t ON =  1  t OFF − t OFF
 R1 + R2 
Using the values of the circuit shown in Figure 1, the off time is calculated to be 0.658 seconds and the
on time is calculated to be 0.329 seconds. The time between flashes is the sum of the off and on times
which is 0.987 seconds.

Circuit Simulation

The operation of the flashing LED circuit was simulated using Multisim. The schematic of the flashing LED
circuit is shown in Figure 2.

XSC1
VCC
VCC 9V
Ext Trig

LED1 3+
6_
KA

A B

1
4

2
5
+ _ + _
VCC
VCC 9V
VCC
R1 VCC 9V R3
21

21

4.7kΩ U1 680Ω
VCC

RST OUT
R2
DIS
12

4.7kΩ
THR

TRI
CON
GND
C1
100µF LM555CM
1
2

1
1

Figure 2 – Multisim Schematic of Flashing LED Circuit

2
During the time that the capacitor C1 is discharging, the LED is on. The equivalent circuit of the LED
during the on time is shown in Figure 3. The current flows from Vcc to ground while passing through the
LED. For each flashing cycle, the time that the LED is on was measured at 0.329 seconds on the
oscilloscope using the cursors as shown in Figure 4.

VCC
VCC 9V

LED1

K A
R3

2 1
680Ω

Figure 3 – Equivalent LED Circuit to Ground When LED is On

Figure 4 – Oscilloscope Display of R3 Voltage

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During the time that the capacitor C1 is charging, the LED is off. The equivalent circuit of the LED during
the off time is shown in Figure 5. There is effectively an open circuit through the 555 timer so that no
current passes through the LED. For each flashing cycle, the time that the LED is off was measured at
0.652 seconds on the oscilloscope using the cursors as shown in Figure 6.

VCC
VCC 9V

LED1

K A
R3

2 1
680Ω

Figure 5 – Equivalent LED Circuit to Ground When LED is Off

Figure 6 – Oscilloscope Display of 555 Timer Output Voltage

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Circuit Build

The components of the flashing LED circuit were assembled to the breadboard as shown in Figure 7. The
resistor values were verified using the digital multimeter.

Figure 7 – Assembly of Flashing LED Circuit Components

Circuit Test

The +9V and ground wires of the flashing LED circuit were connected to the +25V power supply in the
lab. The LED was observed to flash 61 times during a 60 second period. This calculated to be a total off
and on time of 0.984 seconds.

Calculated (seconds)

Quantity Calculated Simulated Measured

tOFF 0.658 0.652

tON 0.329 0.329

tTOTAL 0.987 0.981 0.984

Table 1 – Summary of Flashing LED Off and On Times

Summary and Conclusion

The flashing LED circuit using the 555 timer was simulated, built, and tested. The measured test values
were close to the simulated and calculated values.