EECE 211L Experiment 8 - RC and RL Low Pass Filters

EECE 211L Experiment 8

RC and RL Low Pass Filters

I. INTRODUCTION

Resistors, capacitors and inductors can be combined to form filters. Waveform

such as those originating from voice, music, or transducers can often be decomposed
into a sum of many sinusoidal signals with different frequencies.
When such a waveform is applied to a low pass filter, only the low frequency
sinusoidal components pass through the filter while the high frequency components
are attenuated. Such a filter could be useful for removing additive high frequency
noise from a low frequency signal such as the signal from a temperature sensor.
Other types of filters include high pass, band pass and band reject filters. In
this experiment, two simple low pass filters will be studied. The experimentally
determined frequency responses will be compared with responses using theoretical
calculations.

II. EQUIPMENT AND PARTS

Signal generator.
Oscilloscope.
Digital mulitimeter
Resistor 470Ω.
Inductor 20mH
Capacitor 0.1µF
HP 467 amplifier

III. PROCEDURE

3.1. RC Filter Frequency Response

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EECE 211L Experiment 8 - RC and RL Low Pass Filters

Figure 1 RC Circuit for Experimentation

1. After measuring R and C, construct the circuit shown in Figure 1.

2. Vary the frequency of the generator over the following values: 100 Hz, 300 Hz, 600
Hz, 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz, 3000 Hz, 3500Hz, 4000Hz, 4500 Hz,5000 Hz, 6000 Hz,
10,000Hz and 50,000 Hz.

For each frequency value use the scope to measure and record the amplitudes of Vin(t)
and V(t). Experimentally, also find the frequency where the amplitude of V(t) is 0.707
times the amplitude of V(t) when the source frequency is close to 0. This is referred to
as the experimental -3 dB frequency, or the experimental bandwidth of the circuit.
Convert your voltage readings to RMS for all 14 frequencies. In addition, for each
frequency in your table calculate 20*log10(V/ Vin) , where V and Vin refer to the
RMS values of these voltages.

3. It can be shown that the theoretical relationship between the RMS value of V(t) and
the RMS of Vin(t) is given by

In this expression V(ω) and Vin(ω) refer to the phasor representations of V(t) and
Vin(t), respectively. Use MATLAB to plot

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EECE 211L Experiment 8 - RC and RL Low Pass Filters

over the frequency range 100 Hz to 100 KHz. Use a 3 cycle semilog scale for the
frequency axis and your measured values of R and C for the calculations. Your graph
should be a solid smooth curve.

Theoretically, the expression in (1) should be -3 dB at the frequency given by

Calculate (2) using your measured R and C. Show the experimental response at this
frequency point on your plot using the plot symbol "*". These are your theoretical
results.
4. Use MATLAB to plot your tabulated experimental data from Step 2 on the same
graph as your theoretical results. Use the plot symbol "o" for your experimental
results. Don't connect the "o" by straight lines. You should now have a direct
comparison of the theoretical and experimental frequency responses of the circuit.

3.2. RL Filter Frequency Response

1. Measure the values of R1, RL, and L. Then construct the circuit shown in Figure 2.

2. For the circuit in Figure 2, repeat the measurements shown earlier in Step 2 for the
RC network.

3. The theoretical relationship between the RMS values of V and Vin is

(3)

Figure 2 RL Circuit for Experimentation

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EECE 211L Experiment 8 - RC and RL Low Pass Filters

As in Step 3 for the RC network, calculate and plot

over the frequency range 100 Hz to 100 KHz using 3 cycle semilog paper in
MATLAB. The theoretical expression for the -3 dB frequency is given by

Calculate (4) using the measured values of R and L. Indicate this frequency point in
your theoretical plot of the frequency response using the plot symbol "*".

4. Use MATLAB to plot your tabulated experimental data from Step 2 on the same
graph as your theoretical results. Use the plot symbol "o" for your experimental
results. Don't connect the "o" by straight lines. You should now have a direct
comparison of the theoretical and experimental frequency responses of the circuit
Some of the results of this experiment will be used in the next experiment. You may
want to make a copy of your report for this experiment before you turn it in.

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