Name: Krutik Parmar

Roll Number: 19IE10018

Experiment No. 7

Name of the Experiment: RC Frequency Response

1. Aim of the experiment

a) Explain RC Voltage Dividers

b) Explain RC Circuit as Low Pass Filters
c) Explain RC Circuit as High Pass Filters

2. Tools used:

Ammeter
Resistor
Connecting Wires
Voltmeter
Capacitor
Voltage Source

3. Background Knowledge

RC Circuit as Filters
A filter is a circuit that allows to pass a specified range of frequency components, while blocking
or “attenuating” the rest according to the frequency range of signals. The most commonly used
filter designs are as follows:
 The Low Pass Filter- Filter passes low frequencies and blocks high frequencies.It only
allows low frequency signals from 0Hz to its cut-off frequency, (fCfC) point to pass
while blocking those any higher.
 The High Pass Filter-Filter passes high frequencies and blocks low frequencies. It only allows
high frequency signals from its cut-off frequency, (fCfC) point and higher to infinity to pass
through while blocking those any lower.
 The Band Pass Filter- Filter passes only a relatively narrow range of frequencies. It allows
signals falling within a certain frequency band setup between two points to pass through
while blocking both the lower and higher frequencies either side of this frequency band.
 Filters can also be classified according to the types of components that are used to implement
the circuit. Passive filters are made up of passive components such as resistors, capacitors and
inductors and have no amplifying elements (transistors, op-amps, etc) so have no signal gain,
therefore their output level is always less than the input.

RC Voltage Dividers

Figure:1 Figure:2
Let us consider RC circuits as voltage dividers to understand how they would perform as ‘filters’.
Note that Vout = ( Z2/ Z1 + Z2 )*Vin. In this case – Since Z1 or Z2 is dependent upon frequency, the
output is dependent upon the frequency of the input waveform.

Figure:3

RC as Low Pass filter

A simple passive RC Low Pass Filter or LPF, can be easily made by connecting together in series a
single Resistor with a single Capacitor as shown below.
 Figure:4

In this type of filter arrangement the input signal (Vin) is applied to the series combination (both
the Resistor and Capacitor together) but the output signal (Vout) is taken across the capacitor
only. The reactance of a capacitor varies inversely with frequency, while the value of the resistor
remains constant as the frequency changes. At low frequencies the capacitive reactance, (XCXC)
of the capacitor will be very large compared to the resistive value of the resistor,R. Voltage
across the capacitor will be much larger than the voltage drop developed across the resistor. At
high frequencies the reverse is true with (VC) being small and (VR) being large due to the change
in the capacitive reactance value. Thus, low frequencies are passed and high frequencies are
blocked.

Cut-off Frequency
The cutoff frequency of an RC low-pass filter is the frequency at which the amplitude of the input
signal is reduced by 3 dB (this value was chosen because a 3 dB reduction in amplitude
corresponds to a 50% reduction in power). Thus, the cutoff frequency is also called the –3 dB
frequency. The term bandwidth refers to the width of a filter’s passband, and in the case of a
low-pass filter, the bandwidth is equal to the –3 dB frequency The cutoff frequency (fc) of an RC
low-pass filter is calculated as follows:
fc=1/2×π×RL×CL

Capacitive Reactance
The reactance of a capacitor indicates the amount of opposition to current flow, but unlike
resistance, the amount of opposition depends on the frequency of the signal passing through the
capacitor. Thus, to calculate reactance at a specific frequency, following equation is used:

XC=1/(2×π×f×CL)

Z= √(RL^2+XC^2)

Magnitude=20×log(XC/Z)
Vout=Vin×(XC/Z)
Low-Pass Filter Phase Shift
Each reactive element in a circuit introduces 90° of phase shift, but this phase shift does not
happen all at once. The phase of the output signal, just like the magnitude of the output signal,
changes gradually as the input frequency increases. In an RC low-pass filter, we have one reactive
element i.e. the capacitor, and consequently the circuit will eventually introduce 90° of phase
shift.
ϕ=−arctan(2×3.14×f×CL×RL)
High pass filter
A simple passive RC High Pass Filter or HPF, can be easily made by connecting together in series a
 single Resistor with a single Capacitor as shown below. In this type of filter arrangement the
input signal (Vin) is applied to the series combination (both the Resistor and Capacitor together)
but the output signal (Vout) is taken across the resistor only.

Figure:5
In this circuit, the reactance of the capacitor is very high at low frequencies so the capacitor acts
like an open circuit and blocks any input signals at (Vin) until the cut-off frequency point (fCfC) is
reached. Above this cut-off frequency point the reactance of the capacitor has reduced
sufficiently as to now act more like a short circuit allowing all of the input signal to pass directly
to the output as shown below in the filters response curve.
Magnitude=20×log(R/Z)
Vout=Vin×(R/Z)

4. CIRCUIT (Hand drawn/Screenshot)

RC Frequency Response LPF RC Frequency Response HPF

5. Measurement Data (Tabluar Form):

 Low Pass Filter

Serial Output
Frequency(Hz) Magnitude(dB) Phase(theta)
No. Voltage(V)
1 50 -4.33854e-9 -0.00181185 10.000
2 149 -3.7787200000000004e-8 -0.00534715 10.000
3 438 -3.29112e-7 -0.0157806 10.000
4 1294 -0.000002866439999996 -0.0465717 10.000
5 3818 -0.0000249656 -0.137443 10.000
6 11267 -0.000217436 -0.405616 9.9997
7 33252 -0.001893432 -1.19691 9.9978
8 98134 -0.01646342 -3.52837 9.9811
9 289614 -0.1413372 -10.3134 9.8386
10 854713 -1.099534 -28.2394 8.8110
11 2522440 -5.45226 -57.7660 5.3381
12 7444240 -13.5899 -77.9657 2.0917
13 21969500 -22.818399999999997 -85.8980 0.72291
14 64836600 -32.1982 -88.6381 0.24552
15 191346000 -41.5958 -89.5686 0.083216
16 564703000 -50.9956 -89.8840 0.028198

 High Pass Filter

Serial Output
Frequency(Hz) Magnitude(dB) Phase(theta)
No. Voltage(V)
1 50 -44.38380000000001 89.6996 0.060368
2 149 -34.9852 89.0245 0.17813
3 438 -25.5958 87.0343 0.52507
4 1294 -16.28706 81.2208 1.5334
5 3818 -7.6105599999999995 65.4280 4.1636
6 11267 -1.896272 36.5171 8.0387
7 33252 -0.26476 14.0821 9.6998
8 98134 -0.0312318 4.85834 9.9641
9 289614 -0.00359731999999998 1.64972 9.9959
10 854713 -0.000413178 0.559134 9.9995
11 2522440 -0.000047441 0.189464 9.9999
12 7444240 -0.000005447 0.0641992 10.000
13 21969500 -6.254e-7 0.0217535 10.000
14 64836600 -7.18056e-8 0.00737105 10.000
15 191346000 -8.2444e-9 0.00249764 10.000
16 564703000 -9.4658199999999e-10 0.000846311 10.000
6.GRAPHS

8.CONCLUSION:
We have got a brief idea about
a) RC voltage dividers
b) RC circuits as a HPF
c) RC circuits as a HPF

9.DISCUSSION:
a) RC circuits can be used to filter a signal by blocking certain frequencies and passing others.
b) The two most common RC filters are the high-pass filters and low-pass filters; band-pass filters
and band-stop filters usually require RLC filters, though crude ones can be made with RC filters.

QUIZ: