Experiment: The Full Wave Rectifier and Power Supply

1.

Obtain a transformer from the instructor. The low side of the transformer has three wires coming out of it. The wires with the little pieces of tape are connected to the ends of the coil. The other wire is a center tap. For this experiment, let the center tap float while being careful not to short it to anything that will draw current. Plug in your transformer and measure the voltage across it using the scop. Sketch the waveform.

2.

First, set up the circuit in Fig. 1.5, with R_L=10K, except without the capacitor. After setting up the circuit, sketch the output as a function of time.

3.

Now, place the $2200\mu F$ capacitor across the output as was done above. Now, measure the AC ripple for the three load resistors R_L=5K, 10K, 100K. Calculate what the ripple should be for the capacitors and compare the calculated and measured values. (BE CAREFUL, THE ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITORS ARE POLAR, MAKE SURE YOU PUT THE NEGATIVE SIDE TO THE LOWER VOLTAGE, OTHERWISE.....)