VELAMMAL VIDHYASHRAM

MAMBAKKAM

PHYSICS
INVESTIGATORY PROJECT
REPORT
2019 – 2020
Full wave rectifier

MADE BY :
NAME : ADARSH.S
ROLL NO. :
adfsasdasdasda
GRADE : XII SEC: D
GROUP : PHYSICS
 BONAFIde CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that this PHYSICS Investigatory Project
on the topic Full Wave Rectifier has been successfully
completed by Adarsh.S of class XII(physics).
Roll.no…………………... at Velammal Vidhyashram, Mambakkam,
for the partial fulfilment of this project as a part of All India
Senior School Certificate Examination-CBSE, New Delhi for
the academic Year 2019 - 2020.
Date: ……………………..

Signature of Principal Signature of the

Guide
Name:

Submitted for AISSCE 2019-2020, PHYSICS Practical

examination on ………………….

Signature of the Signature of the

Internal Examiner External Examiner
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The success of any project depends largely on
people associated with it. I would like to take this
opportunity to acknowledge the enthusiasm of all
these personalities.
I hereby express my heartfelt thanks to our
Senior Principal Mr.ARULKUMAR R for having
given this opportunity to do the project in the
physics laboratory and for his constant
encouragement .
I extend my sincere gratitude to acknowledge
my sense of gratitude to my physics teacher
Mr.RAJKUMAR A for the valuable guidance
offered to me. His whole-hearted encouragement
and constant stimulant inspiration and advice
enabled me to complete the project successfully.
I am also thankful to all our teachers and Non-
Teachers for their help during my course of study.
I take this opportunity to express my sincere
thanks to my parents for their encouragement and
support.
Aim:
To construct a full wave rectifier and show that the
Alternating Components are rectified into a direct current.

Introduction:
A full wave rectifier is a device which is used to rectify all
the alternating current components in an alternating supply
and make it purely a direct current. The two alternating halves
of an alternation current are rectified in a full wave rectifier
which is an advantage over a half wave rectifier. Most
electronic devices cannot withstand very high voltage or
alternating current due to its intense high power. The use of
batteries in all devices is not practical as their replacement and
durability is a huge problem as the device has to be dismantled
each time for such a replacement. So, these rectifiers are used
in most of the electronic devices like TV’s, Radios, Chargers,
Lightings etc. There are several stages in a rectifier. Based on
their rectification they are classified into two. The single staged
& multi staged.

In the multi staged rectifiers, more than two diodes are used
and these are used in the above-mentioned devices. The
singled staged rectifier has only 2 diodes, the one we are to
discuss in this project. The multi diode rectifier has only 2
diodes, the one we are to discuss in this project. The multi
diode rectifiers has an efficiency ~ 94.6% while that of the
single is only 81.2%

Theory involved:

The input transformer steps down the A.C mains from

230V (nominal) to 6V between the center tap and either of the
two ends of the secondary winding. The transformer has a
capability of delivering a current of 500 mA. The 6V A.C
appearing across the secondary is the RMS value of the
waveform and peak value would be The diodes rectify the A.C
waveform appearing across the secondary with the help of
alternate forward and reverse biasing. The capacitor further
filters 99% of the resident components and this is let to pass
 through the resistance and emerges out as +ve and –ve. The
bulb connected verifies the output as it works on Direct
Current and if used on an Alternating Current, the fluctuation
will burn out the bulb.

Materials required in the construction:

Connecting wires, a plug, single lead wire - 2m, 3 – nuts &

Bolts of 2 to 3 cm length, Circuit board of mica, a small box to
place the model, a transformer, A capacitor, A Resistor (1 K  ),
P-N junction diodes, Insulation tape, Blades, soldering wax,
soldering lead, soldering iron & sand paper.

Details of the materials used:

i. Connecting wires and a plug  A normal insulated
copper wire able to withstand 230 – 250 v is required.

ii. Single lead wire  Thin wire with one single strand of
copper well Insulated and able to conduct a current of 1
ampere or a D.C current efficiently.
iii. A circuit board  A normal board of mica facilitated
with clips to simplify the connection.

iv. Soldering wax & lead  The wires are to be soldered

firmly to make the connection tight so for this a thin lead
wire is required to affix the connections and wax to make
the lead to hold on when soldered.

v. A small box  To place the equipments safely.

vi. A LED  To test the output voltage whether Direct or not.

Specification  2.2 –3 v it will get burnt on
application of A.C.

vii. A 6-0-6 transformer  A transformer is a device used to

change the voltage of an alternating current. The
transformer which converts low voltage to high voltage is
called a step-up transformer whereas the one which
converts high voltage to low voltage is called a step-down
transformer. It consists of a laminated core consisting of two
coils, a primary & a secondary coil. In a step up the number
of turns in the secondary is greater than that of the primary
and the reverse in a step-down transformer. Here we use a
 step-down transformer which steps down 230V to 6V
between the secondary terminals and the center tap.

viii. A Capacitor  The ability of a metal to store electric

charges measures the capacitances of a conductor. It
provides high impedance to Alternating Current and stores
them while all the D.C components are let to pass. There are
different types of capacitors –
 PLATE CAPACITOR
 SPHERICAL CAPACITOR
 CYLINDRICLAL CAPACITOR

Here we deal with a Cylindrical Capacitor. It consists of two

coaxial conducting cylindrical shells. Due to attraction between
unlike charges, the charges spread out uniformly and thus it
gets charged. Capacitance is measured in it  Farads. The
1
reactance a capacitor offers to A.C. Current is = where  is
c ,

the frequency of the supply. It does not dissipate any power &
the energy stored in it equal to ½ CV2 . In a capacitor Voltage
does not change instantaneously. It leads current & voltage by
an angle different of 900 . The capacitor can be connected in 2
ways:
o In Series =
1 1 1 1 
     ..... 
 C C1 C 2 C 3 
 o In Parallel =
(C = C1 + C2 + C3 ……)

Here we use capacitor of 1000  F & 25 v.

ix. A Resistor A resistor is an electronic component whose

resistance value tells us about the opposition it offers to the
flow of electric current. Resistance is measured in ohms (  ).
We determine the value of a resistor using the color coding on
the rings of the resistor –

1. Black - 0 6. Green - 5
2. Brown –1 7. Blue - 6
3. Red -2 8. Violet - 7
4. Orange – 3 9. Grey - 8
5. Yellow – 4 10. White - 9

Tolerance 
Gold -  5%

Silver -  10%

Colorless -  20%

Measurement 

1st Color - 1st digit

2nd Color - 2nd digit
3rd Color - Power to 10
4th Color - Tolerance
 For Eg: For a resistor of color code – brown, black, green &
gold.
The resistance value is 10  105  5%

Here we use a single resistor of Brown, Red, Red & Gold color
rings. Its Value = 12  102  5%

Resistance can be connected in 2 ways –

In series,
R = (R1 + R2 + R3 ….)
&
In Parallel
1 1 1 1 
     ..... 
 R R1 R 2 R3 

x. P-N junction Diodes 

When one side of a semiconductor crystal

(Germanium or silicon) is doped with acceptor impurity
atoms and the other side with donor impurity atoms a P-N
junction is formed. It is also called a semiconductor or
crystal diode. When diffusion of the two regions occur, a
resultant potential barrier is created between the two sides
due to migration of electrons and holes.
When the diode is connected with P side to positive terminal
of a battery & N side to –ve terminal it is said to be forward
biased & reverse biased when reversed. In forward biasing
the applied positive potential repels the holes and turns a
current is made to flow overcoming the Internal potential
Barrier. While in reverse biasing the –ve electrons 1st attract
the holes and widen the Barrier and then only the repulsion
between the inner electrons occur and current flows. So
theoretically no current flows through due to the widening
of the Potential barrier but practically a very small current
does flows through.
Different types of diodes are present –

1. Zener diode
2. P-N junction diode
3. LED
4. LAD
5. Solar cell

Here we use a P-N junction diode. The grayish ring indicated

the N side and the Black colouration the P side.
xi. Finally, small equipments such as a soldering iron to solder
the lead, Blades, holders, insulation tapes – to insulate the
wire from shocking and sandpaper – to rub the oxidized
wire ends are used.

Circuit diagram
Connection details:
Connections are done as in the circuit. The A.C. supply
is given to both the input wires of the transformer and the two
ends of the secondary coil is given to the P side of the two
diodes and the N side of the diodes are twined and then
connected to one end of the capacitor and the other end to the
center tap lead and to the resistor. Further, the other end of
capacitor with the diode connection is connected to the other
end of the resistor. Connect 2 leads on both the ends of the
resistor to measure the output and this is connected to the +ve
& -ve terminals of the bulb.

Working:
1st when the A.C. is supplied to the transformer, it
steps down the 230V main supply to 6 volts. It has a capability
of delivering a current of 500mA. The 6 volts A.C. appearing
across the secondary is the RMS value and the peak value is or
8.4 volts. During the 1st half cycle of the A.C. input Diode D1 is
forward biased and a current ‘I’ flows in the circuit in the
direction S1D1ABEOS1. During this time diode D2 is reverse
biased. So, it does not conduct any electric current. During the
next half cycle the diode D2 is forward and D1 is reversed.
Hence D2 conducts current in the direction S2D2ABEOS2 and
D1 does not conduct any current. In subsequent half cycles of
the A.C current the above processes are repeated. In both the
half cycles it is clear that current flows through the resistor in
only one direction ABE. Even though the voltage across RL is
unidirectional it will still contain a few A.C components. This is
filtered and made smooth using a capacitor, which filters 99%
of the A.C current. A resistor is then used to adjust the output
voltage. We can then test the o/p Voltage using a multi-meter.
Efficiency of Rectification -

= D.C power output

Total A.C input power

For a half wave rectifier, ~ 0.406 = 40.6 %

For a full wave rectifier, the one used here is ~ 0.812 =
81.2 %

By the use of a greater number of diodes the efficiency can be

increase to a maximum of 94.6%. Here we only use 2 diodes.
The use of multiple capacitors also nearly filters all A.C
components from the supply and resistance is adjusted for the
required output. As this is a simple circuit, only one capacitor
and a resistance are being used. But there will be slight factor
of A.C. current still left in the output, but it is negligible.

RECTIFIED D.C VOLTAGE:

Observation:
Capacitance (C) Resistance (R) Output Voltage (DC)
(  F) (K  )
1000 580 15.03
1000 259.6 13.51
1000 661.6 14.69
1000 563.6 14.68

Result:
A full Wave rectifier is constructed & output voltage for
different output resistance is measured and tabulated.

BIBILIOGRAPHY:
1) Electronic projects for beginners by A.K Manini
2) Comprehensive physics (class XIIth, NCERT based)
3) Comprehensive practical physics
4) NCERT based CBSE text for XIIth
5) Website: www.yahoo.com