Curve Tracer

The introduction to the Curve Tracer helped us understand the I-V characteristics of the resistor, diode, and Zener diode. It was determined from the Curve Tracer experiment, when a 100 Щ resistor was placed on the terminals, the I-V curve was linear, which means the relationship of the current to the voltage is linear with the resistor. For the Switching Diode, the I-V relationship was exponential. As for the Zener diode, after calculations from the display readings, the Zener Impedance was approximately 8.33 Щ.

The Half Wave Rectifier (Schematic 1) experiment showed that an output is only produced at R1 during the positive half cycles of the input sinusoid. This is due to the fact that the diode is inactivated, or "off" during the negative half cycles of the input. By taking measurements at both an input of approximately 1 kHz and 10 kHz, it was determined that the frequency does not make a difference in the function of the circuit. According to figure 2 and figure 3 (hard copies attached), the voltage difference (VD) between the peaks of the input and output are about equal, VD = 0.59 V.

The Peak Rectifier (Schematic 2) experiment required for the input to be taken at varying frequencies, at 1 kHz and 10 kHz. According to the print-outs from figure 4 and figure 5, the output for a 1 kHz produced more ripple than at 10 kHz. For a 1 kHz, there was 56.82% ripple, while for a 10 kHz, there was 14.67% ripple. Thus, it was concluded that less ripple in the output of the rectifier results from a higher frequency.

The Zener Diode Regulator (Schematics 3 and 4) experiment showed :

The percent change in Vo due to line variation at nominal load current is 4.06 %.

The percent change in Vo due to load variation at nominal input voltage is .20 %.