Palestine Polytechnic University

College of Engineering
Electrical Engineering Department
Electronics Lab

Experiment #2
Rectification Circuits

Objectives

1. To understand the principles of rectification and the operation of Half-Wave and Full-Wave
rectification circuits.
2. To observe and compare the output waveforms of the half-wave and full-wave rectification
circuits for a specific input signal.
3. To measure and analyze the rectified output voltage, average output voltage, and ripple voltage
for both Half-Wave and Full-Wave rectification circuits.
4. To determine the efficiency of the rectification circuits by calculating the ripple factor.
5. Observe the effect of adding a capacitor filter to the output voltage of the rectification circuit.
6. To gain hands-on experience in constructing and troubleshooting rectification circuits on a
breadboard.
7. To reinforce theoretical knowledge through practical experimentation and analysis of rectification
circuits.

A. Half-Wave Rectification Circuit

1.1 Connect the circuit shown in Figure 1.

1.2 Set the signal generator to generate a sine wave with a peak-to-peak amplitude of 10 volts
(10 𝑉𝑃𝑃 ) and a frequency of 50 𝐻𝑧.

1.3 Connect channel 1 of the oscilloscope to the input signal, and connect channel 2 to the output of the
circuit as shown in Figure 2.

1.4 Turn ON the signal generator and draw the input signal on grid plot 1.

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 Figure 1: Half-Wave rectification circuit.

Figure 2: Half-Wave rectification circuit with the Oscilloscope.

1.5 Plot the obtained output waveform on grid plot 2. Determine the peak value of the output waveform
(𝑽𝑷 ), period of the output waveform (𝑻𝑷 ), and calculate the output frequency (𝒇𝑶 ).

1.6 Connect a Voltmeter to the output and measure the DC output Voltage (𝑽𝑫𝑪 ), Record your result in
table 1.

1.7 Connect a 10𝜇𝐹 capacitor filter in parallel with the output as shown in Figure 3. Draw the output
waveform on grid plot 4. Measure the 𝑽𝑫𝑪 and the ripple voltage (𝑽𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒑 ), record your results in
table 1.

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1.8 Replace the 10𝜇𝐹 capacitor with 100𝜇𝐹 and repeat step 1.7. Draw the output waveform on grid plot
5.

1.9 Reverse the diode and repeat steps from 1.5 to 1.8. Draw the output waveform on grid plot 3.

Figure 3: Half-Wave rectification circuit with capacitor filter.

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 Grid Plot 1: Input signal of the Half-Wave rectifier circuit.

Grid Plot 2: Positive output of the Half-Wave rectifier circuit.

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Grid Plot 3: Negative output of the Half-Wave rectifier circuit.

Grid Plot 4: Output waveform with the 𝟏𝟎𝝁𝑭 capacitor.

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 Grid Plot 5: Output waveform with the 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝝁𝑭 capacitor.

Table 1: Rectification circuits measurements.

DC Output Voltage(𝑽𝑫𝑪 )

With Capacitor
Without Capacitor
(Pract.) 𝒓
𝑽𝑷 (𝑽) 𝑻𝑷 (𝒎𝒔) 𝒇𝒐 (Hz) 𝑽𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒑 (𝑽)
With With
Theo. Pract.
10𝜇𝐹 100𝜇𝐹
Half-Wave
Positive
Rectification
Half-Wave
Negative
Rectification
Full-Wave
Rectification

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B. Full-Wave Rectification Circuit

2.1 Connect the circuit shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Full-Wave rectification circuit.

2.2 Turn ON the signal generator and draw the output waveform on grid plot 6.

2.3 From the obtained output, perform the measurements listed in table 1 and record your results in the
final row.

2.4 Connect a 10μ𝐹 capacitor filter in parallel with output as shown in Figure 5. Draw the output
waveform on grid plot 7. Measure the DC output Voltage and record your result in table 1.

2.5 Replace the 10μ𝐹 capacitor with 100μ𝐹 and repeat step 2.4. Draw the output waveform on grid plot
8.

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Figure 5: Full-Wave rectification circuit with capacitor filter.

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Grid Plot 6: Output waveform of the Full-Wave rectification circuit.

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Grid Plot 7: Full-Wave output waveform with the 𝟏𝟎𝝁𝑭 capacitor.

Grid Plot 8: Full-Wave output waveform with the 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝝁𝑭 capacitor.

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REFERENCES
[1] Floyd Thomas L. 2012. Electronic Devices: Electron Flow Version. 9th ed. Boston: Prentice Hall.

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