ELT130-385 Introduction to RC Filters Lab 7B

Overall Lab Objective

1. Continue to become familiar with new lab test equipment, the function generator and
the oscilloscope
2. Calculate the corner frequency for an RC circuit. Estimate the frequency response
3. Build the RC circuit and measure the frequency response when driven from the function
generator

Part 1 – RC Circuit Calculations

1. The circuit below will be used in both parts of this lab. The resistor Rfg should be
included in your calculations, but not included in the built circuit. The resistor is internal
to the function generator.

Rfg = R=

V=3Vpp +
C = 0.1µF

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2. Calculate the corner frequency of the RC filter. Recall that 𝐹𝑐 = 2𝜋𝑅𝐶

1/6.28*520*0.000001 = 3062.22 Hz

3. What is the capacitive reactance of the capacitor at the corner frequency?

1 1/6.28*3062*0.0000001 =
𝑋𝑐 =
2𝜋𝑓𝐶
520 Ohms
Capacitive Reactance _____________________ [ ]

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ELT130-385 Introduction to RC Filters Lab 7B

4. Calculate the voltage attenuation at the corner frequency. =520/SQRT(520^2 + 520^2)

=520/SQRT(270400+270400)
𝑋𝑐 =520/SQRT(540800)
𝑉𝑎𝑡𝑡 = =520/735.391
√𝑅 2 + 𝑋𝑐2 =.707

.707
Voltage attenuation at the corner frequency ____________________________

5. Calculate the capacitive reactance at twice the corner frequency

261.267 Ohms
Capacitive Reactance at twice the corner frequency ________________________ [ ]

Xc = 1/6.25*(2*3062)(0.0000001)
Xc = 261.267 Ohms

6. Calculate the voltage attenuation at twice the corner frequency.

0.44905
Voltage Attenuation at twice the corner frequency ____________________________

Vatt = 261.267/SQRT(520^2+261^2)
Vatt = 0.449049695

Part II – Building and measuring the frequency response of the RC Circuit

1. See the diagram and picture below for help in building the RC circuit and connecting to
the function generator and oscilloscope. INITIALLY DO NOT INSTALL THE CAPACITOR.

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ELT130-385 Introduction to RC Filters Lab 7B

Oscilloscope

+
R=
CH1 CH2
V=3Vpp +
C = 0.1µF

Function Generator
-

Figure 1 Function Generator and Oscilloscope

2. Set the function generator to generate a SINE wave at a frequency of approximately 300
Hz.
3. Set the scope settings appropriately so that you can properly measure the sine wave.
4. Adjust the amplitude of the function generator so that the peak to peak voltage of the
sine wave is 3V. Record the actual value of the PP voltage

3.04
Actual PP Voltage of the source ________________________________ [ ]

5. INSTALL THE CAPACITOR INTO THE CIRCUIT. DOUBLE CHECK THE POLARITY OF THE
CAPACITOR!!! Make sure that the scope is configured to measure the voltage across
the capacitor.
6. Trigger the scope so that you can see the SINE wave fully on the scope.
7. Using the CURSOR function or the MEASURE function of the scope, measure the peak to
peak voltage on the capacitor

3.04
Peak to Peak Capacitor Voltage ___________________________ [ ]

8. Change the frequency of the function generator to APPROXIMATELY the values shown in
the table. Record the peak to peak voltage across the capacitor. Also, calculate the
voltage attenuation. This is the PP voltage across the capacitor divided by the PP
voltage of the source that you measured earlier.

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ELT130-385 Introduction to RC Filters Lab 7B

Actual Frequency Capacitor Voltage Voltage Attenuation

Set Frequency (Hz)
(Hz) (PP) (PP)
300 300 3.04 0.9952805
600 598 2.94 0.98163276
750 749 2.90 0.97162703
850 857 2.86 0.9633205
950 949 2.82 0.955582
1200 1200 2.72 0.93165456
1400 1399 2.64 0.91032205
1600 1599 2.54 0.88733481
1800 1801 2.46 0.86302984
2000 1999 2.36 0.83856813
2400 2400 2.20 0.788502306
2800 2800 2.04 0.739605319
3000 3000 1.96 0.71600014
3200 3200 1.88 0.693108716
3700 3700 1.72 0.639397919
4000 4000 1.64 0.609710761
5000 5000 1.38 0.524097426
6000 6000 1.24 0.456316648
8000 8000 1.0 0.358979079
10000 10250 .800 0.28751274
20000 20000 .460 0.152057184
30000 30000 .310 0.102028865

9. Plot the voltage attenuation versus the frequency of the source. Use Excel or another
program that you use for plotting.

10. What is the voltage attenuation at the calculated corner frequency of the RC filter?
How does this compare to your calculated value?

The attenuation value at 3kHz is 0.716 and the calculated value was 0.707. These values are pretty
close to the calculated values.

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ELT130-385 Introduction to RC Filters Lab 7B

11. What is the voltage attenuation at twice the calculated corner frequency of the RC
filter? How does this compare to your calculated value?
Vatt = 261.267/SQRT(520^2+261^2)
Vatt = 0.449049695
Vatt measured was 0.45631665 These values are close, especially since Fc was not equal to 3kHz.
Lab 07 – Frequency Response Summary

1. How do you calculate the corner frequency of an RC filter circuit?

2. How do you calculate the capacitive reactance of a capacitor?

3. How do you calculate the voltage attenuation of the RC filter circuit?

4. What voltage attenuation does the RC filter have at the half power frequency? What is
the significance of that value?

Vatt at 1.4kHz is approximately 0.91. There appears to be less significant signal loss after 50%
frequency, allowing it to be used as a filter.