PHYSICS

PROJECT REPORT
ON
Full Wave Rectifier

SUBMITTED TO: MR. VINOD CHAUHAN

SUBMITTED BY: PAWAN KUMAR
XII-B
D.A.V. PUBLIC SCHOOL VASANT KUNJ

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Index
1).Aim
2).Introduction
3).Theory Involved
4).Materials required in construction
5).Details of material used
6).Circuit Diagram
7).Connection Details
8).Working
9).Rectified D.C. Voltage
10).Observation
11).Result
12).Bibliography

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A FULL WAVE RECTIFIER

Aim:

To construct a full wave rectifier and show that the

Alternating Components are rectified into a direct current.
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 Lights 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) to6V between the center tap and either of
the two ends of the secondary winding. The transformer
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has a capability of delivering a current of 500 mA.

The 6V A.C. appearing across the secondary is the RMS v
alue of the waveform and peak value would be
6x1.414=8.4volts.
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 left 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, 3
nuts & Bolts of 2 to 3cm length, circuit board of mica, a
small box to place the model, a transformer, a capacitor,
A Resistor (1K), P-N junction diodes, Insulation tape,
Blades, soldering wax, soldering lead, soldering iron &
sand paper.
Details of the materials used:
i) Connecting wires and a plug A normal insulated
copper wire are able to withstand 230 250 v is required.
ii) 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.
iii) A circuit board A normal board of mica facilitated
with clips to simplify the connection.
iv) Nuts and bolt In order to fix the board & transformer
firmly. Size 2 3 cm.
v) Soldering wax & lead The wires are to be soldered
firmly to make the connection tight so for this a thin lead

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wire is required to affix the connections and wax to make

the lead to hold on when soldered.
vi) A small box To place the equipment safely.
vii) A bulb To test the output voltage whether Direct
or not.Specification2.2 6 v it will get burnt on
application of A.C.
viii) A 6-0-6 transformer Transformer It 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 alaminated 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 6V between
the secondary terminals and the center tap.
ix) A Capacitor The ability of a metal to store electric
charges measures the capacitances of a conductor. It
provides high impedance to Alternating Current and
stores them while all the D.C components are left to pass.
There are different types of capacitors
a) PARALLEL PLATE CAPACITOR
b) SPHERICAL CAPACITOR
c) CYLINDRICLAL CAPACITOR
Here we deal with a Cylindrical Capacitor.It consistsof two
coaxialconducting cylindrical shells. Due to attraction
between unlike charges, the charges spread out uniformly
and thus it gets charged. Capacitance is measured in it
Farads. The reactance a capacitors offers to A.C.
Current = 1c/ where is the frequency of the supply. It
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does not dissipate any power & the energy stored in it

equal to CV2. In a capacitor Voltage does not change
instantaneously. It leads current &voltage by an angle
different of 900.
The capacitor can be connected in 2 ways
1) In Series =1/C=1/C1+1/C2+
&
2) In Parallel =(C = C1 + C2 + C3 ) Here we use
capacitor of 1000 F & 25 v.
x) 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 ().We determine the value of a
resistor using the color coding on the rings of the resistor

1. Black 0
6. Green- 5
2. Brown 1
7. Blue-6
3. Red 2
8. Voilet-7
4. Orange 3
9. Grey-8
5. Yellow 4
10. White-10
Tolerance
Gold 5%
Silver - 10%
Colorless - 20%
Measurement
1st Color - 1stdigit
2nd Color - 2nd digit
3rd Color - Power to 10
4th Color - Tolerance

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For E.g.: For a resistor of color code brown, black, green

& gold.
The resistance value is 101055%.Here we use a single
resistor of Brown, Red, Red & Gold color rings.
Its Value = 121025%.

Resistance can be connected in 2 ways

In series, R = (R1 + R2 + R3 ..)

&

In Parallel
1/R=1/R1+1/R2+
xi) P-N junction Diodes When one side of a
semiconductor crystal (Germanium or silicon) is doped
with acceptor impurity atoms and the other side with
donor impurity atoms a PN
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

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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. PN 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 color P side.
xii) 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

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Connection details
Connections are done as in the circuit. The A.C. supply is
given to both the input wires of the transformer and the
two ends of the secondary coil is given to the P side of
the two diodes and the N side of the diodes are twined
and then connected to one end of the capacitor and the
other end to the center tap lead and to the resistor.
Further, the other end of capacitor with the diode connect
ion isconnected to the other end of the resistor. Connect
2 leads on both the ends of the resistor to measure the
output and this is connected to the +ve & -ve terminals of
the bulb.
Working
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1st when the A.C. is supplied to the transformer, it steps

down the230V main supply to 6 volts. It has a capability
of delivering a current of 500mA. The 6 volts A.C.
appearing across the secondary is the RMS value and the
peak value is 8.4 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 S1D1ABEOS1. 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 S2D2ABEOS2 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 ABE. Even though the
voltage across RL 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. As this is a simple
circuit, only one capacitor and a resistance is being used.
But there will be slight factor of A.C. current still left in the
output but it is negligible.

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RECTIFIED DC VOLTAGE

OBSERVATION:
Capacitance (C) (F)
Resistance (R) (K )
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Output Voltage (DC).

CAPACITOR (F) RESISTANCE(K )
1000
1000
1000
1000

580
259.6
661.6
563.6

OUTPUT
VOLTAGE(DC)
15.03
13.51
14.69
14.68

Result:
A full Wave rectifier is constructed & output voltage
for different output resistance is measured and tabulated.

BIBILIOGRAPHY
1) Electronic projects for beginners by A.K Manini
2) Comprehensive physics (class XII , NCERT based)
3) Comprehensive practical physics
4) NCERT based CBSE text for XII
5) Website: www.yahoo.com

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