ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my physics teacher, Mr.
___________, for her invaluable guidance, expertise, and encouragement
throughout the duration of this physics project. Their deep knowledge of
the subject matter, engaging teaching methods, and willingness to provide
assistance whenever needed have greatly contributed to the success of this
project. I am grateful for their patience in answering my queries,
clarifying concepts, and guiding me through the experimental procedures.
I would also like to acknowledge the support and cooperation of my
classmates, who have been instrumental in sharing ideas, conducting
experiments, and analyzing data collaboratively. Their enthusiasm,
commitment, and teamwork have enhanced the quality of this project and
made the learning process enjoyable.
Furthermore, I would like to express my appreciation to the school
administration for providing the necessary resources, such as laboratory
equipment, textbooks, and reference materials, which have facilitated the
smooth execution of this project. The availability of these resources has
allowed me to explore various aspects of physics and gain a deeper
understanding of the subject.
Finally, I extend my heartfelt thanks to my parents for their constant
encouragement, support, and belief in my abilities. Their unwavering faith
in my potential has motivated me to strive for excellence in this project
and beyond.
CONTENT
Sl No Topics Page No
1 Introduction
2 Half Wave Rectifier
3 Full Wave Rectifier
Difference between Half Wave Rectifier and Full
4
Wave Rectifier
5 Conclusion
6 Bibliography
INTRODUCTION
The main application of p-n junction diode is in rectification circuits.
These circuits are used to describe the conversion of A.C signals to D.C in
power supplies. Diode rectifier gives an alternating voltage which
pulsates in accordance with time. The filter smooths the pulsation in the
voltage and to produce D.C voltage, a regulator is used which removes
the ripples.
There are two primary methods of diode rectification:
1. Half Wave Rectifier
2. Full Wave Rectifier
What Is Half Wave Rectifier?
In a half-wave rectifier, one half of each A.C input cycle is rectified.
When the p-n junction diode is forward biased, it gives little resistance
and when it is reversed biased it provides high resistance. During one-half
cycles, the diode is forward biased when the input voltage is applied and
in the opposite half cycle, it is reverse biased. During alternate half-
cycles, the optimum result can be obtained.
Material Required
1. Connecting wires
2. A plug
3. Breadboard
4. A Resistor (1 K Ω)
5. P-N junction diodes
6. A LED
7. Transformer (9-0-9)
Circuit Diagram
Working of Half Wave Rectifier
The half-wave rectifier has both positive and negative cycles. During the
positive half of the input, the current will flow from positive to negative
which will generate only a positive half cycle of the A.C supply. When
A.C supply is applied to the transformer, the voltage will be decreasing at
the secondary winding of the diode. All the variations in the A.C supply
will reduce, and we will get the pulsating D.C voltage to the load resistor.
Rectifier Efficiency
Rectifier efficiency is the ratio of output DC power to the input AC
power. For a half-wave rectifier, rectifier efficiency is 40.6%.
Advantages of Half Wave Rectifier
1. Affordable
2. Simple connections
3. Easy to use as the connections are simple
4. Number of components used are less
Disadvantages of Half Wave Rectifier
1. Ripple production is more
2. Harmonics are generated
3. Utilization of the transformer is very low
4. The efficiency of rectification is low
Applications of Half Wave Rectifier
Following are the uses of half-wave rectification:
1. Power rectification: Half wave rectifier is used along with a
transformer for power rectification as powering equipment.
2. Signal demodulation: Half wave rectifiers are used for
demodulating the AM signals.
3. Signal peak detector: Half wave rectifier is used for detecting the
peak of the incoming waveform
What Is Full Wave Rectifier?
Full-wave rectifier circuits are used for producing an output voltage or
output current which is purely DC. The main advantage of a full-wave
rectifier over half-wave rectifier is that such as the average output voltage
is higher in full-wave rectifier, there is less ripple produced in full-wave
rectifier when compared to the half-wave rectifier.
Material Required
1. Connecting wires
2. A plug
3. Breadboard
4. A Resistor (1 K Ω)
5. P-N junction diodes
6. A LED
7. Centre Tapped Transformer (9-0-9)
Circuit Diagram
Working of Full Wave Rectifier
The full-wave rectifier utilizes both halves of each A.C input. When the
p-n junction is forward biased, the diode offers low resistance and when it
is reverse biased it gives high resistance. The circuit is designed in such a
manner that in the first half cycle if the diode is forward biased then in the
second half cycle it is reverse biased and so on.
Rectifier Efficiency
Rectifier efficiency is used as a parameter to determine the efficiency of
the rectifier to convert AC into DC. It is the ratio of DC output power to
the AC input power. The rectifier efficiency of a full-wave rectifier is
81.2%.
Types of Full Wave Rectifier
There are two main types of full-wave rectifiers, and they are:
1. Two diodes full-wave rectifier circuit (requires a center-tapped
transformer and is used in vacuum tubes)
2. Bridge rectifier circuit (doesn’t require a centre-tapped transformer
and is used along with transformers for efficient usage)
Advantages of Full Wave Rectifier
1. The rectifier efficiency of a full-wave rectifier is high
2. The power loss is very low
3. Number of ripples generated are less
Disadvantages of Full Wave Rectifier
1. Very expensive
Applications of Full Wave Rectifier
1. Full-wave rectifiers are used for supplying polarized voltage in
welding and for this bridge rectifiers are used.
2. Full-wave rectifiers are used for detecting the amplitude of
modulated radio signals.
Difference between
Half Wave Rectifier and Full Wave Rectifier
Parameter Half Wave Rectifier Full Wave Rectifier
The half-wave rectifier is A full-wave rectifier is a
a rectifier which is used rectifier which is used for
Definition for converting the one- converting both the half
half cycle of AC input to cycles of AC input into DC
DC output output
No. of
2 or 4 depending on the type
diodes 1
of circuit
used
Form
1.57 1.11
factor
Rectifier
40.60% 81.20%
efficiency
Ripple Ripple factor of a half- Ripple factor of a full-wave
factor wave rectifier is more rectifier is less
CONCLUSION
Rectification methods to convert AC (Alternating Current) to DC (Direct
Current) include full-wave rectification and half-wave rectification. In
both cases, rectification is performed by utilizing the characteristic that
current flows only in the positive direction in a diode.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Wikipedia.com
2. Google search engine Knowledgecycle.in
3. Physics NCERT book for class XII
