MAHALASHMI

VIDHYA MANDHIR

PRACTICAL RECORD FILE

Academic Session 2022-23

SUBMITTED TO MRS.BEULAH PREMA

DARLING
SUBMITTED BY : KRITHIKA .R

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude and

debtedness to our learned teacher MRS.BEULAH

PREMA DARLING for her valuable help, advice

and guidance in the preparation of this Practical File.

I am also greatly indebted to our principal

Mrs.Beulah Prema Darling.A and school

authorities for providing me with the facilities and

requisite laboratory conditions for making this

practical file. I also extend my thanks to a number of

teachers, my classmates and friends who helped me

to complete this practical file successfully.

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that KRITHIKA .R student of Class

XII, Mahalashmi Vidhya Mandhir has completed the

PRACTICAL FILE during the academic year 2022-23

towards partial fulfillment of credit for the Computer

Science practical evaluation of CBSE SSCE-2023 and

submitted satisfactory report, as compiled in the

following under my supervision.

Internal Examiner
External Examiner

Date: School Seal

Principal

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 The general purpose photoconductive cell is
also known as LDR – light dependent resistor.
It is a type of semiconductor and its
conductivity changes with proportional
change in the intensity of light. There are two
common types of materials used to
manufacture the photoconductive cells. They
are Cadmium Sulphide (CdS) and Cadmium
Selenide (CdSe). Extrinsic devices have
impurities added, which have a ground state
energy closer to the conduction band - since
the electrons don't have as far to jump, lower
energy photons (i.e. longer wavelengths and
lower frequencies) are sufficient to trigger the
device. Two of its earliest applications were as
part of smoke and fire detection systems and
camera light meters. The structure is covered
with glass sheet to protect it from moisture
and dust and allows only light to fall on it

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• The various types of LDRs can be
classified based on linearity or photosensitive
materials. Materials often used in their design
include cadmium sulfide, thallium sulfide,
cadmium selenide & lead sulfide. LDRs
generated with cadmium sulfide chemicals
are very responsive to all kinds of light
radiation that is noticeable within the
spectrum of human beings. LDRs made of
lead sulfate chemicals are particularly
responsive to IR radiation. However, the most
frequent classification of LDR is linear and
nonlinear.
• Linear LDR: These types of LDRs are
called photodiodes but it is used as
photoresistors in some applications due to
the linear performance during operation.
Nonlinear LDR: the nonlinear LDRs are mostly
used but their behavior does not depend on
the polarity through which it unites.

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The LDR symbol used in electronic
circuits is based around the resistor
circuit symbol, but shows the light, in the
form of arrows shining on it. In this way it
follows the same convention used for
photodiode and phototransistor circuit
symbols where arrows are used to show
the light falling on these components.
The light dependent resistor / photoresistor
circuit symbols are shown for both the
newer style resistor symbol, i.e. a
rectangular box and the older zig-zag line
resistor circuit symbols.
Often the light dependent resistor symbol
may be shown without the circle around
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it. This is often done on the electronic
circuit schematic to save space and
reduce the number of lines and circles ont
he diagram to redice complication.

This resistor works on the principle of photo

conductivity. It is nothing but, when the light
falls on its surface, then the material
conductivity reduces and also the electrons in
the valence band of the device are excited to
the conduction band. These photons in the
incident light must have energy greater than
the band gap of the semiconductor
material.This makes the electrons to jump
from the valence band to conduction.

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These devices depend on the light, when light
falls on the LDR then the resistance
decreases, and increases in the dark.When a
LDR is kept in the dark place, its resistance is
high and, when the LDR is kept in the light its
resistance will decrease.

If a constant “V’ is applied to the LDR, the

intensity of the light increased and current
increases. The figure below shows the curve
between resistance Vs illumination curve for
a particular light dependent resistor.

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Light dependent resistors are classified based
on the materials used.

These resistors are pure semiconductor

devices like silicon or germanium. When the
light falls on the LDR, then the electrons get
excited from the valence band to the
conduction band and number of charge
carriers increases.

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These devices are doped with impurities and
these impurities creates a new energy bands
above the valence band. These bands are filled
with electrons. Hence this decrease the band
gap and small amount of energy is required in
moving them. These resistors are mainly used
for long wavelengths.

The circuit diagram of a LDR is shown below.

When the light intensity is low, then the
resistance of the LDR is high. This stops the
current flow to the base terminal of the
transistor. So, the LED does not light.
However, when the light intensity onto the
LDR is high, then the resistance of the LDR is
low.So current flows onto the base of the first
transistor and then the second
transistor.Consequently the LED lights.Here, a
preset resistor is used to turn up or down to
increase or decrease the resistance.

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Light dependent resistors have a low cost and
simple structure. These resistors are
frequently used as light sensors. These
resistors are mainly used when there is a
need to sense the absence and presence of
the light such as burglar alarm circuits, alarm
clock, light intensity meters, etc. LDR
resistors mainly involves in various electrical
and electronic projects. For better
understanding of this concept, here we are
explaining some real time projects where the
LDR resistors are used.

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Now when the device is kept in darkness, its
resistance is called as dark resistance. This
resistance is typically of the order of 1013 ohms.
When light falls on it, its resistance decreases up to
several kilo ohms or even hundreds of ohms,
depending on the intensity of light, falling on it. The
spectral response characteristics of two commercial
cells were compared in our laboratory. And we
found that there is almost no response to the
radiation of a wavelength which was shorter than
300nm. It was very interesting to note that the
Cadmium Sulphide cell has a peak response nearer
or within the green color of the spectrum within a
range of 520nm. Thus it can be used nearer to the
infra-red region up to 750nm. It was found that the
maximum response of Cadmium Sulphoselenide is
in the yellow-orange range at 615nm and also it can
be used in the infra-red region up to about 970nm

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Like the human eye, the relative sensitivity
of a photoconductive cell is dependent on
the wavelength (color) of the incident light.
Each photoconductor material type has its
own unique spectral response curve or
plot of the relative response of the
photocell versus wavelength of light.

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The aim of the project is to demonstrate
the underlying principles of electrical
conduction under the influence of light.
Various applications are possible by
employing this simple principle such as
(a) Automatic switching of street lamps
(b) Intruder’s alarm
(c) Morning wake up alarm
(d) Fire alarm
(e) Light intensity meters
(f) Automatic elevator doors
In this project, I have demonstrated the
‘Automatic light switching circuit’ in a
simple manner which is easy to
understand. The heart of the project is an
LDR or Light Dependent Resistor. This
project could have been done using a would
have become complicated in the case of
photocell.

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 A light dependent resistor works on the
principle of photo conductivity. Photo conductivity is an
electrooptical phenomenon in which the material’s
conductivity is increased when light is absorbed by the
material. Modern light dependent resistors are made of
materials such as lead sulphide, lead selenide, indium
antimonide and most commonly cadmium sulphide
(CdS) and cadmium selenide. When light falls i.e. when
the photons fall on the material, the electrons in the
valence band of the semiconductor material are excited
to the conduction band. These photons in the incident
light should have energy greater than the band gap of the
semiconductor material to make the electrons jump from
the valence band to the conduction band. Hence when
light having enough energy strikes on the device, more
and more electrons are excited to the conduction band
which results in large number of charge carriers.

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The result of this process is more and more current
starts flowing through the device when the circuit is
closed and hence it is said that the

resistance of the device has been decreased. This is the

most common working principle of LDR This can be
clearly seen from the graph. The resistance of the LDR
falls rapidly with the increasing intensity of the incident
light. The converse is also true when light intensity is
reduced or cut off

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1. Light source (white, ultra-violet and laser)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

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An empty cardboard box was used to mimic a house. An
opening was cut on the box to present a door. Behind the
door, a light source is placed and in the line of vision of
the light source, an LDR is also placed. A circuit is
connected to the LDR which switches on a relay when
the light beam is intercepted. A schematic diagram of the
set-up is shown below:

As seen in the above diagram, a light source is positioned

behind the door on the right-hand side and an LDR is
placed in the same line of vision at the opposite end of
the door. When the light beam falls on the LDR, it lowers

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the resistance of the same and this activates the
switching transistor circuit. The transistor circuit
(described later) is connected to a relay which is in turn
connected to an external LED. The relay is a special type
of switch which is driven by its magnetic coil. The relay
has two positions. In de-energized condition, position-1
will be active and in energized condition, position-2 will
be active. When the circuit is powered, the relay goes to
position-1 to which the LED is connected. Thus, the
LED will start glowing. But when the light source is
switched on, the resistance of LDR falls and this drives
the transistor switching circuit and the relay gets
energized. This puts the relay switch in position-2,
which cuts off the LED. In this condition, whenever the
light beam is intercepted by an opaque object, the LDR
stops receiving the incident light and its resistance
becomes high. This de-energizes the relay and puts it to
position-1 and the LED starts glowing. Thus, to
summarize, we can say that the as long as the light
source is on and the LDR is illuminated, the LED will
not light up. But the moment, the light source is

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interrupted, the LED will start glowing. We can Imagine
the interruption of the light beam to be caused by an
intruder and hence this arrangement can automatically
detect any intruder by turning on the LED. The LED is
just one of the devices we have connected to the relay.
As such we can connect many devices to the relay such
as sirens, flashing lights, buzzer or even an automatic
dialer to the nearest police station. This intruder alarm
can be easily set up in houses, banks, schools etc. The
same circuit can be rewired to reverse the effect of light.
Viz. we can make the LED glow whenever, light is
present and interestingly this set up can be used in other
places as required.

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 OBSERVATION
In the set up described, the following observations were
made by
(a) varying the nature of light source.
(b) varying the translucency of the interceptor object.

Table of observations

S.No Types of light Material of Result

source Interceptor

White light Opaque LED Glows

1.

Transparent LED does not

Glow

Near ultra- violet Opaque LED Glows

2.

Transparent LED does not

Glow

Low intensity red Opaque LED Glows

laser
3.
Transparent LED does not
Glow

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 The project uses certain devices that can be harmful to
humans and animals if proper caution and care are not
observed.

1. Laser diode: Although we have used a low intensity laser,

this can be harmful if aimed accidently at the eyes or if the
reflected beam is seen through naked eye. It is suggested to
wear protective sun-glasses while assembling / positioning
the light source.

2. Ultraviolet LED: UV LED with wavelengths between 315

and 400 nm, which emits the least energetic and harmful
type of UV light. However, prolonged exposure should be
avoided which can damage the skin and eyes.

3. Buzzer: This device emits high frequency audio sounds that

can damage the ears when put close to the ears or heard for
prolonged period.

4. The LDR: Should a need arise to destroy the project; care

should be taken to dispose of the LDR properly as it
contains harmful chemicals that can damage the
environment.

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 :
LDRs are used in Light Sensors
1. LDR is also used in some cameras to detect the
presence of the light.
2. LDRs are used Ligh Intensity measurement
meters.
3. LDRs are used in Street Lights which are
automatically turn ON in the night time.
4. LDRs are used in Burglar Alarm Circuits.
5. LDRs are used in Photosensitive Relays
6. LDR can be used in simple Fire alarm circuits.
7. The Light Dependent Resistors are used in
modern televisions, computer screens for
automatic brightness and contrast control.

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. LDR is not so much sensitive device

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 Conclusion
• The LDR resistance decreases with increase in
intensity of light and hence there is an increase in
the flow of current.
• There is an increase in the current as the distance
from the source decreases.
• The intensity decreases as the distance from the
source increases
• The error lies within the experimental limit.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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1. www.wikipedia.com

2. www.electrical4u.com

3. PHYSICS LAB MANUAL

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