HALF-WAVE RECTIFIER

Programme: B.Tech in Food

Technology
Subject: BFT-103 Engineering Physics
Group members:
1) Bhagyalaxmi Patil
2) Huda Shaikh
3) Vaishnavi Katore
 INTRODUCTION
A recti fi er is an electrical device that converts
alternati ng current (AC), which periodically
reverses directi on, to direct current (DC), which
is in only one directi on, a process known as
recti fi cati on.
Types of Recti fi ers: 1. Half wave Recti fi er
2. Full wave Recti fi er
 Aim of Experiment
To observe waveform at output of half-
wave rectifier and calculate ripple factor.
 COMPONENTS AND EQUIPMENT

 Diodes

Diode Transformer Ammeter Voltmeter

Resistor Breadboard Cathode Ray

Oscilloscope (CRO)
 What is a Half Wave Rectifier?
A half wave rectifier is defined as a type of rectifier that only allows
one half-cycle of an AC voltage waveform to pass, blocking the
other half-cycle.
Half-wave rectifiers are used to convert AC voltage to DC voltage,
and only require a single diode to construct.
A rectifier is a device that converts alternating current (AC) to
direct current (DC). It is done by using a diode or a group of diodes.
Half wave rectifiers use one diode, while a full wave rectifier uses
multiple diodes.

The working of a half wave rectifier takes advantage of the fact that
diodes only allow current to flow in one direction.
 Principle
>A half wave recti fi er is the simplest form of recti fi er
available. When a standard AC waveform is passed through
a half-wave recti fi er, only half of the AC waveform
remains. Half-wave recti fi ers only allow one half-cycle
(positi ve or negati ve half-cycle) of the AC voltage through
and will block the other half-cycle on the DC side.

>During the positi ve half cycle of the AC voltage, the diode

will be forward biased and the current fl ows through the
diode. During the negati ve half cycle of the AC voltage,
the diode will be reverse biased and the fl ow of current
will be blocked.
>The diagram below illustrates the basic principle of a half-wave
rectifier.
HALF-WAVE RECTIFIER
 PROCEDURE
1. Wire up the half wave recti fi er circuit without capacitor aft er
testi ng all the components.
2. Switch on the main supply. Observe the transformer secondary
voltage waveform and output voltage waveform across the load
resistor, simultaneously on the CRO screen. Note down Vm (peak
value of output) and calculate Vrms (rms value of input) and Vdc
(average value of input).
3. Calculate the ripple factor, recti fi er effi ciency and %
regulati on using the expressions.
4. Connect the capacitor fi lter and observe the waveforms. Note
down Vm (peak value of output) and Vrpp (peak to peak value of
ripple voltage), and calculate ripple factor, recti fi er effi ciency
and %regulati on using the expressions. Repeat for diff erent
capacitor values.
 THEORY
Filters are components used to convert (smoothen) pulsating DC waveforms into
constant DC waveforms. They achieve this by suppressing the DC ripples in the
waveform.
WITHOUT FILTER WITH FILTER
1. Although half-wave recti fi ers 1. In reality, half wave recti fi ers
without fi lters are theoreti cally are used with a fi lter. A capacitor
possible, they can’t be used for or an inductor can be used as a
any practi cal applicati ons. fi lter – but half wave recti fi er
2. As DC equipment requires a with a capacitor fi lter is most
constant waveform, this is why commonly used.
the pulsati ng waveform has to be 2. Vr,rms = Vrpp/2√3
smoothened out for it to be any Vdc = (Vm + Vrpp)/2
use in the real world. Ripple factor (r) = Vr,rms/Vdc
3. Vrms = Vm/2 , Vdc = Vm/π
Ripple factor (r)= √(Vrms/Vdc) 2 −1
=1.21
Half-wave rectifier
with filter

Half-wave rectifier
without filter
 Ripple Factor of Half Wave
Rectifier
‘Ripple’ is the unwanted AC component remaining when
converti ng the AC voltage waveform into a DC waveform. Even
though we try out best to remove all AC components, there is sti ll
some small amount left on the output side which pulsates the DC
waveform. This undesirable AC component is called ‘ripple’.
To quanti fy how well the half-wave recti fi er can convert the AC
voltage into DC voltage, we use what is known as the ripple factor
(represented by γ or r). The ripple factor is the rati o between the
RMS value of the AC voltage (on the input side) and the DC
voltage (on the output side) of the recti fi er.
The formula for ripple factor is:
The ripple factor of half wave recti fi er is equal to 1.21 (i.e. γ=
1.21).
 Observation Tables

Vm Vrms = Vm/2 Vdc = Vm/π r=

HWR
14.5 7.25 4.6155 1.2112

Table 1 - Rectifier without filter (Figure 1)

C(μF) Vm Vrpp Vr,rms = Vrpp/2 Vdc = Vm – Vrpp/2 r = Vr,rms/Vdc

1 14.5 14.5 – 3 = 11.5 3.3198 8.75 0.3794

Table 2 - Rectifier with 1 μF filter (Figure 2, red graph)

 Observation Table

C(μF) Vm Vrpp Vr,rms = Vrpp/2 Vdc = Vm – Vrpp/2 r = Vr,rms/Vdc

4.7 14.5 14.5 – 10 = 4.5 1.2990 12.25 0.1060

10 14.5 14.5 – 12.5 = 2 0.5774 13.50 0.0428

47 14.5 14.5 – 14 = 0.5 0.1443 14.25 0.0101

Table 3 - Rectifier with other filters (Figure 3)

 Observations

Figure 1: Output waveforms on CRO

Green – Input AC Waveform
Red – Output Rectified Waveform
 Observation

Figure 2: Output waveforms on CRO

Green – Input AC Waveform
Red – Output Rectified Waveform with
1μF capacitor
 Observations

Figure 3: Output Waveforms

Green – Input AC Waveform
Red – Output Rectified Waveform with 1μF capacitor
Mustard Yellow – Output Rectified Waveform with 4.7μF capacitor
Blue – Output Rectified Waveform with 10μF capacitor
Dark Green – Output Rectified Waveform with 47μF capacitor
 Result
Suppose one were to plot a graph of capacitance (C) of fi lter on
the x-axis and ripple factor (r) on the y-axis, one would observe a
hyperbolic graph.
With this, one can infer that the two are inversely proporti onate.

Graph 1 – Capacitance against Ripple Factor graph (using above values)

 Conclusion

In conclusion, we can see that a larger

capacitance value of the fi lter leads to a smaller
ripple and ripple factor (inversely proporti onate
relati on). Thus, this gives a smoother graph and
more consistent output which is important for
real-world applicati ons.
 Advantages and Disadvantages of
Half wave recti fi er
Advantages of half wave recti fi er
1. We use very few components to
construct the half wave
recti fi er. So the cost is very low.
2. Easy to construct.
Disadvantages of half wave recti fi er
1. Power loss: The half wave recti fi er
either allows the positi ve half cycle
or negati ve half cycle. So the
remaining half cycle is wasted.
Approximately half of the applied
voltage is wasted in half wave
recti fi er.
2. Pulsati ng direct current: The direct
current produced by the half wave
recti fi er is not a pure direct
current; it is a pulsati ng direct
current which is not much useful.
3. Produces low output voltage.
 Applications of Half Wave
Rectifier

Half wave recti fi ers are not as commonly used as full-

wave recti fi ers. Despite this, they sti ll have some uses:
• For recti fi cati on applicati ons.
• For signal demodulati on applicati ons.
• For signal peak applicati ons.
THANK YOU.