Physics Investigatory Project: Half Wave and Full Wave Rectifier

PHYSICS
INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT
Half wave and Full
wave Rectifier
NAME: RITVIK TIWARI

CLASS: XII- D
ROLL NO: 23
INDEX
1. CERTIFICATE
2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
3. INTRODUCTION
4. THEORY INVOLVED
5. CIRCUIT DIAGRAM
6. WORKING
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Ritvik Tiwari of class XII-D of

New Era Senior Secondary School Vadodara has completed
the investigatory project titled Half wave and Full wave
Rectifier satisfactorily in Physics as a practical fulfillment of
syllabus as prescribed by CBSE during the academic year
2016-17.
TEACHER INCHARGE
EXAMINERS SIGNATURE
SEAL OF SCHOOL
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my sincerest thanks and deep
sense of gratitude to The Principal Mrs.Priyadarshini
Kelkar.
I would like to thank my physics teacher Mrs. Aditya
Kavalanekar. He has always been helpful to me and also
acted as my project guide throughout the duration of my
project work.
I would like to thank my friend Archit Rajbhar for his
immense support in helping me out to complete this
project.
INTRODUCTION
A full wave rectifier is a device which is used to rectify all the
alternating current components in an alternating supply and
make it purely a direct current. The two alternating halves of
an alternation current are rectified in a full wave rectifier
which is an advantage over a half wave rectifier. Most
electronic devices cannot withstand very high voltage or
alternating current due to its intense high power. The use of
batteries in all devices is not practical as their replacement and
durability is a huge problem as the device has to be dismantled
each time for such a replacement. So these rectifiers are used
in most of the electronic devices like TVs, Radios, Chargers,
and Lightings etc. There are several stages in a rectifier. Based
on their rectification they are classified into two. The single
staged & multi staged.
In the multi staged rectifiers, more than two diodes are used
and these are used in the above-mentioned devices. The singled
staged rectifier has only 2 diodes, the one we are to discuss in
this project. The multi diode rectifier has only 2 diodes, the one
we are to discuss in this project. The multi diode rectifiers has
an efficiency ~ 94.6% while that of the single is only 81.2%
Theory involved
The input transformer steps down the A.C mains from 230V
(nominal) to 12V between the center tap and either of the two
ends of the secondary winding. The transformer has a capability
of delivering a current of 500 mA. The 6V A.C appearing
across the secondary is the RMS value of the waveform and
12 2 16.97volts.
peak value would be

The diodes rectify the A.C
waveform appearing across the secondary with the help of
alternate forward and reverse biasing. The capacitor further
filters 99% of the resident components and this is let to pass
through the resistance and emerges out as +ve and ve. The
bulb connected verifies the output as it works on Direct Current
and if used on an Alternating Current, the fluctuation will burn
out the bulb.
Materials required in the

construction:
Connecting wires, a plug, single lead wire - 2m, nuts & Bolts of
2 to 3 cm length, Circuit board of mica, a transformer, a
Resistor (1 K), P-N junction diodes, Insulation tape, soldering
wax, soldering lead & soldering iron.
Details of the materials used

1. Connecting wires and a plug- A normal insulated copper wire
able to withstand 230 250 v is required.
2. Single lead wire- Thin wire with one single strand of copper
well Insulated and able to conduct a current of 1 ampere or a
D.C current efficiently.
3. A circuit board- A normal board of mica facilitated with clips
to simplify the connection.
4. Nuts ad bolt- In order to fix the board & transformer firmly.
5. LED- To test the output voltage whether direct or not.
6. A 12-0-12 transformerTransformer is a device used to change the voltage of an
alternating current. The transformer which converts low voltage
to high voltage is called a step up transformer whereas the one
which converts high voltage to low voltage is called a step
down transformer. It consists of a laminated core consisting of
two coils, a primary & a secondary coil. In a step up the
number of turns in the secondary is greater than that of the
primary and the reverse in a step down transformer. Here we
use a step down transformer which steps down 230V to 12V
between the secondary terminals and the center tap.
7. A Resistor-
A resistor is an electronic components whose resistance value

tells us about the opposition it offers to the flow of electric
current. Resistance is measured in ohms ( ).

8. P-N junction DiodesWhen one side of a semiconductor crystal (Germanium or
silicon) is doped with acceptor impurity atoms and the other
side with donor impurity atoms a P-N junction is formed. It is
also called a semiconductor or crystal diode. When diffusion of
the two regions occur a resultant potential barrier is created
between the two sides due to migration of electrons and holes.
When the diode is connected with P side to positive terminal of
a battery & N side to ve terminal it is said to be forward
biased & reverse biased when reversed. In forward biasing the
applied positive potential repels the holes and turns a current is
made to flow overcoming the internal potential Barrier. While
in reverse biasing the ve electrons 1st attract the holes and
widen the Barrier and then only the repulsion between the inner
electrons occur and current flows. So theoretically no current
flows through due to the widening of the Potential barrier but
practically a very small current does flows through.
Different types of diodes are present

1. Zener diode
2. P-N junction diode
3. LED
4. LAD
5. Solar cell
Here we use a P-N junction diode. The grayish ring indicated
the N side and the Black colouration the P side.
9. Finally, small equipment such as a soldering iron to solder
the lead, Blades, holders, insulation tapes to insulate the wire
from shocking and sand paper to rub the oxidized wire ends
are used.
CIRCUIT DIAGRAM
Working
Half Wave Rectifier
The ac voltage across the secondary winding changes polarities
after every half cycle of input wave. During the positive halfcycles of the input ac voltage i.e. when upper end of the
secondary winding is positive w.r.t. its lower end, the diode D 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. 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. its upper
end, the diode D 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.
Full Wave Rectifier

1st when the A.C. is supplied to the transformer, it steps down
the 230V main supply to 12 volts. It has a capability of
delivering a current of 500mA. The 12 volts A.C. appearing
across the secondary is the RMS value and the peak value is
or 12.96 volts. During the 1st half cycle of the A.C. input
Diode D1 is forward biased and a current I flows in the circuit
in the direction depicted by yellow arrows as shown in circuit
diagram. During this time diode D2 is reverse biased. So it does
not conduct any electric current. During the next half cycle the
diode D2 is forward and D1 is reversed. Hence D2 conducts
current in the direction depicted by green arrows as shown in
circuit diagram and D1 does not conduct any current. In
subsequent half cycles of the A.C current the above processes
are repeated. In both the half cycles it is clear that current
flows through the resistor in only one direction. Even though
the voltage across RLoad is unidirectional it will still contain a
few A.C components. This is filtered and made smooth using a
capacitor, which filters 99% of the A.C current. A resistor is
then used to adjust the output voltage. We can then test the o/p
Voltage using a multi-meter.
Efficiency of Rectification -
D.C power output

Total A.C input power
For a half wave rectifier, ~ 0.406 = 40.6 %

For a full wave rectifier, the one used here is ~ 0.812 = 81.2 %
By the use of more number of diodes the efficiency can be
increased to a maximum of 94.6%. Here we only use 2 diodes.
The use of multiple capacitors also nearly filters all A.C
components from the supply and resistance is adjusted for the
required output. But there will be slight factor of A.C. current
still left in the output but it is negligible.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. PRADEEPS PHYSICS
2.BRITANNICA ENCYCLOPEDIA
3.NCERT PHYSICS
4.GOOGLE
5. CIRCUITS TODAY

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PHYSICS

NAME: RITVIK TIWARI

This is to certify that Ritvik Tiwari of class XII-D of

peak value would be

Materials required in the

Details of the materials used

A resistor is an electronic components whose resistance value

current. Resistance is measured in ohms ( ).

Different types of diodes are present

load. Since only half-cycles of the input wave are used, it is

Full Wave Rectifier

D.C power output

For a half wave rectifier, ~ 0.406 = 40.6 %

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