AIR FORCE SCHOOL
Red Fields, Coimbatore – 18
PHYSICS
Project Report on
Half Wave Rectifier
SUBMITTED UNDER THE
BY GUIDANCE OF
Aswin S Mrs.Yuvarani.
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Aswin.S Reg.No._________________________
of Class XII Air Force School Coimbatore has done his/her
project on Half wave rectifier under the guidance of
Mrs. Yuvarani.S (PGT Physics) during the academic year
2022-2023 in the partial fulfillment of AISSCE Practical
Examination conducted by CBSE.
Signature of Signature of Signature of
Internal Examiner External Examiner Principal
Date: __________________________
DECLARATION
I, Aswin.S Reg.No.________________________________ of Class XII
Air Force School Coimbatore hereby declare that the
project entitled Half Wave Rectifier submitted to Mrs.
Yuvarani.S(PGT Physics) during the Academic Year
2022-2023, is a Bonafide record work done by myself
and team for the partial fulfillment of AISSCE Practical
Examination conducted by CBSE.
Signature of the Candidate
TABLE OF CONTENTS
• Aim of project
• Introduction
• Apparatus Required
• Working Of A Half Wave Rectifier
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
AIM
“To convert alternating current into direct current with the help
of a rectifier that rectifies only the positive half cycles of the
input voltage..”
INTRODUCTION
An electrical device that converts alternating current (AC) to direct current(DC) is
called a rectifier. This process is called rectification. Rectification produces DC
that encompasses active voltage and currents which are then adjusted into a type of
constant voltage DC, although this varies depending on the current's end-use. The
current is allowed to flow uninterrupted in one direction, and no current is allowed
to flow in the opposite direction.A simple Half wave Rectifier is nothing more than
a single p-n junction diode connected in series to the load resistor. An alternating
current is given as input. This input voltage is given to a step down transformer
and the resulting reduced output of the transformer is given to the diode 'D' and
load resistor RL. The output voltage is measured across load resistor RL. The
operation of a half wave rectifier is pretty simple. A p-n junction diode conducts
current only in 1 direction. In other words, a p-n junction diode conducts current
only when it is forward biased. The same principle is made use of in a half wave
rectifier to convert AC to DC. The input we give here is an alternating current.
This input voltage is stepped down using a transformer. The reduced voltage is fed
to the diode 'D' and load resistance RL. During the positive half cycles of the input
wave, the diode 'D' will be forward biased and during the negative half cycles of
the input wave, the diode 'D' will be reverse biased. We take the output across the
load resistor RL. Since the diode passes current only during one half cycle of the
input wave, we get an output as shown in the diagram. The output is positive and
significant during the positive half cycles of the input wave. At the same time
output is zero or insignificant during negative half cycles of input wave. This is
called half wave rectification.
APPARATUS REQUIRED
.
•Bread board
•Connecting wires
•Diode
•Step"down transformer
EVIDENCE
Working Of A Half Wave Rectifier
The half-wave rectifier circuit using a semiconductor diode (D) with a
load resistance RL but no smoothing filter is given in figure. The diode
is connected in series with the secondary of the transformer and the load
resistance RL. The primary of the transformer is being connected to the
ac supply mains. The alternating voltage across the secondary winding
changes its 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 w.r.t. at 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 RL, making its upper end positive w.r.t. 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 w.r.t. at 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 RL is a series of
positive half cycles of alternating voltage, with 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.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.
CONCLUSION
Any rectifier is used to construct DC power supplies. The practical
applicationof any rectifier (be it half wave or full wave) is to be used as
a component in building DC power supplies. A half wave rectifier is not
special than a full wave rectifier in any terms. In order to build an
effcient & smooth DC power supply, a full wave rectifier is always
preferred. However for applications in which a constant DC voltage is
not very essential, you can use power supplies with half wave rectifier.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Class 12 Physics Lab Manual
• Class 12 NCERT Textbook
• ''Radio-Electronics.com: Resources, Analysis&News for Electronics
Engineers.'' Radio Electronics. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Sept. 2015.
• www.wikipedia.com
• www.google.com
