ES185 First Year Laboratory

Measurements in an A.C.
Network

Name: Mubin Al-Manaf

University ID: 1621594

School of Engineering
University of Warwick

Laboratory completed: 14/02/2017

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Summary (Abstract)
The main objective of the laboratory was to develop an understanding on how filters
work, specifically the 1st order and 2nd order low-passive filter. Most of the
experiment was carried out with the assumption that students have knowledge on how
to use the breadboard and oscilloscope. Various data was collected and used in
calculations to ultimately find out the gain for both types of filters. Both filters were
then compared using a Bode diagram, and it is evident that the 2nd order LPF has a
behaviour closer to the ideal brick-wall response.

Table of Contents

Summary……………………………………………………………...………………1
Introduction…………………….…………….…………….…………….…………..2
Theory……………………………………………………………………….….…….3
Apparatus & Method.………….…………….....……….…………….……………..4
Results and Data…………..…………….…………,...………….…………….……..5
Analysis and Discussion of Results…………………...……….…………….……....6
Conclusions…….…………….…………….…………….…………….……….….…7
Reference…………….…………….…………….…………….…………….……..…8
Appendices…………………….…………….…………….…………….……………9

Introduction
Filters were invented to allow desired signals to pass, whilst rejecting unwanted
signals. They are most commonly found in electronic devices where there is noise,
which can be defined as undesirable electrical signals. This laboratory was carried out
to further develop an understanding of impedance, capacitive reactance, phase shift,
frequency response, etc. The filter used in this experiment was a passive low-pass
filter (LPF), which is a filter that does not induce signal gain, requires no power
supplies and is made up of passive components (no amplifying elements) like the
name suggests. Both the 1st order and 2nd order configurations were used in the
experiment to learn how to perform A.C. measurements using a digital oscilloscope.
Passive low-pass filters can range in complexity, starting from 1st order (shown in

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Figure 1), which is a circuit that contains only one resistor and one capacitor. The
resistor is connected in series with the load, whilst the capacitor is connected in
parallel to the load. The 2nd order LPF configuration is also used in this experiment,
which consists of two resistors and two capacitors. Phasors were used to analyze the
RC circuit, as they are the most convenient way of representing sinusoidal functions.
Theoretical and experimental values were compared, and any differences were
attempted to be explained using prior knowledge and concepts gained from the
module’s lectures. Bode plots were used to visualize the frequency response of the
circuits.

1st order passive low-pass filter

Figure 1

Theory
The theory behind the low-pass filter lies in the characteristics of the components it
contains. The capacitor exhibits reactance Xc,, which has a relationship that can be
described by the equation below, where w=2pƒ :

𝟏
Xc= (1)
𝝎𝑪

It can then be deduced that Xc is inversely proportional to frequency. Impedance of

the circuit is the sum of the effective resistance of a circuit. In this case, it is the
combined effects of the resistance of the resistor and the reactance of the capacitor.
The relationship can be shown by the equation below:

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 𝑍 = 𝑅 ' + 𝑋* ' (2)

Equations (1) and (2) are used together, in the form of a potential divider equation to
calculate the voltage output, VO, as shown below:

01
𝑉- = 𝑉. × (3)
2

The cut-off frequency is reached when the resistance of the resistor is equal to the
𝟏
reactance of the capacitor. This suggests that 𝑹 = , and if we arrange the
𝟐𝝅ƒ𝒐 𝐂

equation to make ƒ𝒐 the subject:

𝟏
ƒ𝒐 = (4)
𝟐𝝅𝑹𝑪
The 2nd order low-pass filter was used in experiment 3, to make a comparison with the
1st order low-pass filters used in experiment 1 and 2. Theoretically, the 2nd order LPF
would have a steeper gradient on a Bode plot diagram, due its higher gain roll off.
(School of Engineering, University of Warwick , 2017) This means it acts closer to
the ideal ‘Brick Wall’ characteristic, as shown below in Figure 2.

Figure 2

Apparatus
o Tektronix TBS 1064 Oscilloscope
o AFG 3022C Function Generator
o Connecting cables for oscilloscope and function generator
o Connecting cables (4mm to 4mm) for circuit
o 2 Resistors (390W)
o 2 Capacitors (0.47 µF)
o USB memory stick
(School of Engineering, University of Warwick , 2017)

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Method
Experiment 1:

o Calculate reactance of the capacitor, impedance of the circuit, period of

the voltage source, time constant and theoretical output voltage
o These values can be calculated using the given values for resistance and
capacitance
o Build the first order passive low-pass filter circuit on the breadboard,
similar to Figure (3)
o Connect the oscilloscope to the breadboard using the oscilloscope probes
with the voltage input in channel one and the output voltage in channel
two
o Operate the cursor on the oscilloscope to get the peak voltage reading for
input, press stop/start and proceed to save the waveform onto USB
memory stick
o Repeat previous step, but measure peak voltage for output instead
o Calculate the relative error using the theoretical and measured data using
equation (5)

;<= >;?@
𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = ×100% (5)
;<=

o Using the oscilloscope, measure the lag time between the voltage output
and source
o Calculate the phase difference f and cosine factor using Equation (6)
DF
f = 360× 𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠 (6)
G

Experiment 2:
o Repeat experiment one, but vary the frequency; 10Hz, 100 Hz, 1kHz, and
4kHz
o Calculate the gain for the circuit, which is just the ratio between VS and VO,
using equation (7)
P<
𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 = (7)
;Q

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 𝐺RS = 20𝑙𝑜𝑔VW 𝐺 (8)

o Draw a bode diagram for the circuit

Experiment 3:
o Build a second order passive low-pass filter on breadboard similar to
Figure (3), by modifying the circuit from experiments 1 and 2
o Measure output voltage at 10Hz, 100 Hz, 1000 Hz, 4000 Hz
o Calculate the gain in the same fashion as experiment 2, then compare data
between experiment 2 and 3

Figure (3)

Results and Data

Experiment 1

XC = 338.63 W
|𝑍| = 516.50 W
VO = 1.311 V
VS (max) = 2.0 V
T = 0.001 s
t = 1.83 x 10-4

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Oscilloscope readings:
VO = 1.26 V
VS (max) = 1.92 V
Percentage error = 3.89%
Time lag = 140 µs
f = 50.4 degrees
Cos (f) = 0.64

Experiment 2 & 3

Table (1)

Frequency (Hz) Reactance (Ω)

10 33862.75
100 3386.28
1000 338.63
4000 84.67

Table (2)

Frequency (Hz) Vop (V) Δt (ms)

10 2.16 0
100 2.2 0
1000 1.26 0.14
4000 0.44 0.066

Table (3)

Frequency (Hz) Phase ɸ (degrees)

10 0
100 0
1000 -50.4
4000 -86.4

Table (4)

Frequency (Hz) G= Vo/Vs G in decibels (Gdb)

10 1.08 0.66
100 1.1 0.83
1000 0.63 -4.01
4000 0.22 -13.15

Table (5)

Frequency (Hz) Vop(V) G= Vo/Vs G in decibels (Gdb)

10 2.12 1.06 0.51
100 2 1 0
1000 0.56 0.28 -11.06
4000 0.075 0.038 -28.52

1st order LPF vs 2nd order LPF Bode Plot

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0 0.66
0.51 0.83
0
10 100 1000
-4.01
-5
Gain (Db)

-10
-11.06
-13.15
-15

-20

-25
-28.52
-30
Frequency (Hz)

1st Order 2nd order

Figure (4)

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 Phase Shift Bode Plot
0
10 100 1000 10000
-10
-20
-30
Phase ɸ (degrees)

-40
-50
-60
-70
-80
-90
-100
Frequency (Hz)

Figure (5)

Analysis and Discussion of Results

It is shown that the theoretical voltage differs from the actual voltage when measured
with the oscilloscope. The theoretical equation for the voltage source is:

VS= 2cos(2pƒt) (9)

Using equation (9), it is evident that the theoretical VS is 2V, since the maximum
value of the cosine function is 1. VO is calculated using equation (3) and is equal to
1.11V. However the actual VS was 1.92 V whilst VO was 1.26 V. This gives a relative
error of 4% for VS and 3.89% for VO. Errors could have been caused by a variety of
reasons. Capacitors are inaccurate, along with resistors. It was assumed that the
resistor was perfectly 390W when calculations were performed when they were most
likely not. These errors were then carried forward as impedance was dependent on
resistance as shown in equation (2) and so on. The reactance of the capacitor would
have been incorrect if C was not exactly C = 0.47µF and the error would be carried
forward in a similar way. The errors could have been caused by electronic noise in the
circuit; such errors are called random errors. Another error could have been caused by

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human error when measuring the voltage peaks as it was very sensitive to the touch.
Interference would cause an unclear image, leading to an inaccurate reading of the
scale. It was challenging to get the exact point of the peak due to this reason.

The results shown by table (1) shows an inverse relationship between frequency and
reactance. This is expected as shown by equation (1), as ƒ is in the denominator of the
equation. Experiment 2 and 3 were carried out to investigate the difference between a
1st order and 2nd order LPF. As shown by figure (4), it is evident that the 2nd order
graph has a steeper gradient. Figure (4) also shows the cut-off frequency of both
versions. Cut-off frequency is the point at which the filter’s effects start to occur. In
this case, it is 868 Hz.

Figure (6)

Time lag (Dt) can be seen in figure (6), and is recorded in table (2). This is caused by
the nature of the capacitor, whereby it constantly charges and discharges due to the
A.C. voltage source. The higher the frequency, the smaller the (Dt) as the capacitor
has not had enough time to discharge significantly, therefore taking less time to get
charged up again. It shown by table (2) that VO has an inverse relationship to
frequency. As frequency increases, VO decreases. This can be due to energy
dissipation into the environment.

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There is an outlier in the results of experiment 2. Referring to figure (4), the 1st order
LPF has a gain of more than 1 at 100 Hz. This is not possible, as this filter contains no
amplifying elements which therefore means that VO has to be smaller than VS. This
error also occurs in experiment 3, as seen in figure (5).

Results could have been more reliable if more readings were taken at different
intervals of frequency. This will make it easier to detect anomalies, and graphs such
as the Bode will show a better representation of trend. A range between 5-7 readings
will be ideal.

Conclusion

In conclusion:

o It is evident that 2nd order low-pass filters have a higher gain roll off
compared to 1st order filters.
o The theory behind the filter has been tested and proven to work.
o There is an improved understanding of how to use an oscilloscope and
breadboard
o Bode diagrams can be used to demonstrate relationship between Gain
and Frequency

Bibliography

School of Engineering, University of Warwick . (2017). ES185, 2nd Order Passive
Filters. Retrieved from
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/eso/modules/year1/es185/
studentresource/lecture_2_2nd_order_passive_filters.pdf
School of Engineering, University of Warwick . (2017). ES185, Lab 4 Briefing
Sheet. Retrieved from
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/eso/modules/year1/es185/
studentresource/es185_lab2_briefing__15.02.2016.pdf

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