Physics Investigatory Project
NAME:
CLASS: XII
ROLL N0:
SESSION: 2023-24
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CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that
Sumitra patra
has successfully completed his/her Physics
project titled
HALF WAVE RECTIFIER
under the supervision and guidance of
Sarnamistha Nayak
in the partial fulfillment of the Physics
practical
assessment conducted during the
academic year
2023-2024.
EXAMINER TEACHER
_______________ ______________
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my immense gratitude to
my physics teacher Sarnamistha Nayak for the
help and guidance he/she provided for completing
this project.
I also thank my parents who gave their ideas and
inputs in making this project. Most of all I thank
our school management, for providing us the
facilities and opportunity to do this project.
Lastly, I would like to thanks my classmates who
have done this project along with me. Their
support made this project fruitful.
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INDEX
CONTENT PAGE NO.
Topic 5
Introduction 6-7
Theory 8-10
Experiment 11
Procedure 12
Graph 14
Observation & Calculation 15
Result and Conclusion 16
Application 17
Precautions 19
Bibliography 20
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TOPIC
Physics Investigatory Project on Half wave Rectifier
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INTRODUCTION
A rectifier a simple diode or group of diodes which converts
the Alternating Current (AC) into Direct Current (DC).
We know that a diode allows electric current in one direction
and blocks electric current in another direction. We are using
this principle to construct various types of rectifiers.
Rectifiers are classified into different types based on the
number of diodes used in the circuit or arrangement of diodes
in the circuit. The basic types of rectifiers are: half wave
rectifier and full wave rectifier.
A half wave rectifier is a type of rectifier which converts the
positive half cycle (positive current) of the input signal into
pulsating DC (Direct Current) output signal. The half wave
rectifier is the simplest form of the rectifier. We use only a
single diode to construct the half wave rectifier.
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The half wave rectifier is made up of an AC source,
transformer (step-down), diode, and resistor (load). The diode
is placed between the transformer and resistor (load).
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THEORY
half-wave rectifier circuit is made by using a semiconductor
diode (D) with a load resistance 𝑅𝐿. 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 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
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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 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 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.
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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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EXPERIMENT
MEASUREMENT OF CURRENT USING
HALFWAVERECTFIER.
AIM
To determine the current by measuring voltage and resistance
using Halfwave Rectifier.
MATERIAL REQUIRED
• Diode
• Capacitor(50v) • Voltmeter
• Resistance box
• Ac supply
• Wires for connection
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PROCEDURE
i. Take an AC Supply and connect it to switch.
ii. Connect the terminal part of the AC to the p part of the
diode using wire.
iii. Now Connect the other part of the AC terminal to the
Capacitor.
iv. Connect the n-part of the diode to the capacitor.
v. Connect the both ends of a capacitor to the resistance
box.
vi. Place a connection between voltmeter and resistance
box by joining the terminals of voltmeter.
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vii. Now power on the switch and find out the resultant
voltage by changing the resistance box.
viii. Calculate the current by measuring the mean voltage
and resistance using ohm's law.
CIRCUIT DIAGRAM
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GRAPH
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M OBSERVATION
_____________________________________
Resistance (in Ω) Volt (in V)
1 0.7
2 1.1
3 1.4
4 1.6
5 1.8
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CALCULATION
0.
𝑉𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 == 1.32 𝑉
𝑅𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 = =3𝛺
𝑉𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 1.32
𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝐼) = = = 𝟎. 𝟐𝟔𝟒 𝑨𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒆
𝑅𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 3
RESULT
The average current produced by Half-wave rectifier is
0.264 Ampere
CONCLUSION
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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.
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
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• Soldering
• AM radio
• Pulse generated circuits
• Single demodulation
• Voltage multiplier
ADVANTAGES 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
DISADVANTAGES OF HALF WAVE
RECTIFIER
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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)
PRECAUTIONS
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.
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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.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wikipedia.com
Google Search Engine
Knowledgecycle.in/half-wave-rectifier-project
dcaclab.com/blog/half-wave-rectifier
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www.electrical4u.com/half-wave-rectifiers
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