Physics

Investigatory Project

AISSCE 2022-2023
Rectifiers
Submitted By:- Submitted To:-
Madhur Maru Rajneesh Sir
Class: XII ‘C’ Physics Teacher
Roll No.:
 Certificate
This is to certify that this project on
“Rectifiers” is the bona fide work of
“Madhur Maru” for the subject Physics for
Class 12th and satisfies all criteria to be
submitted as the final project requisition for
accomplishment of AISSCE 2022-23 through
the Central Board of Secondary Education.
 Acknowledgement
Apart from the efforts of myself, the
success of any project depends
largely on the encouragement and
guidelines of many others. I take this
opportunity to express my gratitude
to the people who have been
instrumental in the successful
completion of this project. I would
like to show my greatest appreciation
to Mr. Rajneesh Singh. I can’t say
thank you enough for his tremendous
support and help. Without her
encouragement and guidance this
project would not have materialized.
 Index
 Aim
 Introduction
 Principle
 Construction
 Working
 Types
 Conclusion
 Bibliography
Aim: To know about a rectifier, its types, how to
construct a rectifier and observe its working.

Introduction
A rectifier is an electrical device that converts
alternating current(AC) into direct current(DC). The
process is called rectification. Rectification produces a
type of DC that encompasses active voltages and
currents, which are then adjusted into a type of
constant voltage DC, although this varies depending
upon current’s end-use. The current is allowed to flow
uninterrupted in one direction, and no current is
allowed to flow in opposite direction.
Physically, rectifiers take a number of forms,
including vacuum tube diodes, wet chemical
cells, mercury-arc valves, stacks of copper
and selenium oxide plates, semiconductor
diodes, silicon-controlled rectifiers and other silicon-
based semiconductor switches.
Rectifier circuits may be single-phase or multi-phase.
Most low power rectifiers for domestic equipment are
single-phase, but three-phase rectification is very
important for industrial applications and for the
transmission of energy as DC.

Principle
It is based on the principle that the resistance of p-n
junction becomes low during forward biased an
becomes high during reversed biased.  Because of this
condition, a p-n junction diode only enables the
current to travel in one direction. When an alternating
voltage is applied across a diode, current flows during
the forward-biased portion of the cycle. Rectifier is a
circuit that uses the p-n junction diode's ability to
correct alternating voltages.
 Construction
Materials Required :-
 Connecting Wires
 A Plug
 Single lead wire – 2 m
 Three nuts and bolts 2-3 cm length
 Circuit Board
 A Transformer – 12V
 A Resistor
 P-N Junction Diodes - 4
 A LED
 Insulation Tapes, Blades, Soldering Wax, Soldering
Lead, Soldering Iron and Sand Paper
Procedure :-
Take a transformer and attach it to one end of a circuit
board. Attach the plug with the wire of desired length
and connect it to the transformer. Take four diodes
and connect them in loop. Connect the anode of diode
D1 to the anode of diode D2. Connect the cathode of
diode D2 to anode of diode D3 and cathode of diode of
D3 to anode of diode D4 and anode of diode of D4 to
cathode of diode D1. The output of transformers
should be connected to A and C. Now, take two
capacitors and connect its negative terminal to
negative and positive terminal to positive. And connect
both capacitors to B and D. Connect a resistor and a
lead to the capacitor. Attach wire from the capacitors
and connect it to the output device.
 Working
When the AC is supplied to the transformer, it step
down the 240V main supply to 12V. It has a capability
of delivering 700mA, The 12 volts AC appearing across
the secondary is the RMS value. The four diodes
labelled D1 to D4 are arranged in series pairs with only
two diodes conducting current during each half cycle.

Positive-Half Cycle:-

During the positive half supply, diodes D1 and D2

conduct in series while diodes D3 and D4 are reverse
biased and the current flows through the load.
Negative-Half Cycle:-

During the negative half cycle of supply, diodes D3 and

D4 conduct in series, but diodes D1 and D2 are reverse
biased. The current flows through the load in same
direction as before.
In subsequent Half cycles of the AC current the above
process are repeated. In both the half cycles it is clear
that current flows through the resistor in only one
direction. Even though the voltage across load is
unidirectional it will still contain a few AC components.
This is filtered and made smooth using a capacitor,
which filters 99% of the AC. A resistor is then used to
adjust the output voltage. Capacitor also nearly filters
all Ac components from the supply and resistance is
adjusted for the required output. As in this simple
circuit, two capacitors and one resistor are being used.
The output DC and voltage light up the LED and other
source connected with it.
 Types of Rectifiers
Rectifiers are classified into two types as Half Wave
Rectifiers and Full Wave Rectifiers. Significant power is
lost while using a half-wave rectifier and is not feasible
for applications that need a smooth and steady supply.
For a more smooth and steady supply, we use the full
wave rectifiers.
Half Wave Rectifier :-
Half-wave rectifiers transform AC voltage to DC
voltage. A halfwave rectifier circuit uses only one diode
for the transformation. A halfwave rectifier is defined
as a type of rectifier that allows only one-half cycle of
an AC voltage waveform to pass while blocking the
other half cycle. In this session, let us know in detail
about the half-wave rectifier.

Full Wave Rectifier :-

A full wave rectifier is defined as a rectifier that
converts the complete cycle of alternating current into
pulsating DC. Unlike halfwave rectifiers that utilize
only the halfwave of the input AC cycle, full wave
rectifiers utilize the full cycle. The lower efficiency of
the half wave rectifier can be overcome by the full
wave rectifier.
 Conclusion
A rectifier is an electrical component that converts
alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). A
rectifier is analogous to a one-way valve that
allows an electrical current to flow in only one
direction. The process of converting AC current to
DC current is known as rectification. A rectifier can
take several physical forms, such as solid-state
diodes, vacuum tube diodes, mercury-arc valves,
silicon-controlled rectifiers, and various other
silicon-based semiconductor switches. The
primary application of the rectifier is to derive DC
power from AC power. Rectifiers are used inside
the power supplies of almost all electronic
equipment. In power supplies, the rectifier is
normally placed in series following the
transformer, a smoothing filter, and possibly a
voltage regulator.
 Bibliography

 www.google.com
 www.wikipedia.org
 www.slideshare.com
 www.cbseportal.com
 Physics class 12 ncert book