Exploring Power Supplies with Multisim Lab 3 P. C. Womble Hooray! This is a Multisim only Lab!

AC Power: Typical line voltages in the US are between 110 V to 120 V with a frequency of 60 Hz. However, digital devices require DC power and thus the power supplies can be created. From Physics 260, the ratio of the input voltage on a transformer to its output voltage follows the relation of Voutput N s = Equation 1 Vinput Np where Np is the number of turns on the coil on the primary side (input) and Ns is the number of turns on the secondary (output) side of the transformer. In Multisim, under the Basic family, a virtual transform can be found. Among its properties is the primary to secondary turns ratio. Examining Equation 1 closely, a primary to secondary turns ratio of 100, will actually reduce the input voltage by a factor of 100. This is called a step down transformer. If the primary to secondary ratio is less than 1 (but greater than zero), then the transformer is a step up transformer. Activity 1: 1. Place connect a 60 Hz 120 V AC source on the Multisim screen. Connect this component to the virtual transformer described above (shown to the right). The AC source can be connected either to the two wires on the left of the transformer. The transformer will then follow the relationships described above. 2. Connect the multimeter between the topmost and bottom most wires on the right side of the transformer. Connect a ground to the - of the multimeter. Set the multimeter for AC voltage measurement. Simulate the circuit. 3. Fill in the worksheet for this section.

Diodes: Diodes effectively conduct current in one direction. In the early days of electronics, diodes were tubes with two elements: a heating element and a cathode. The heater was called the anode and when current ran through the heating element, it would emit electrons. These electrons were attracted to the cathode (the + side) and thus current would flow. Reversing the current would be impossible because the cathode was made of a different material. Today semiconductor materials are used to construct these devices. Some materials can be doped or lightly contaminated with other elements. When this occurs, an electron can be easily removed from the doped materials. These are called n-type materials. P-type materials have been doped with elements in which there are holes (absence of electrons). The n-type material is combined with the p-type material. Imagine that you have two types of chocolate bars and you smash then ends together to form a long chocolate bar. One end, for instance, may be a Milky WayTM bar and other a HeathTM. How the bar tastes, then, depends on which side of the bar you eat. It is a similar in a p-n junction. If you attach a battery with the + to the n-type side and the - to the p-type side, no current flows. Why? The nearly free electron in the n-type material immediately flows there and the electrons from the - battery flow into the holes. There is no current flow across the junction. However, if the + side is connected to the p-type side and the - side is connected to the n-type side, current will flow across the diode. We will use a Wheatstone bridge arrangement of diodes to change or rectify the voltages from the transformer.

Circuit 2Half wave rectifier

Activity 2: 1) Simulate Circuit 2 using Multisim. 2) Fill out the section of the worksheet for Activity 2.

Activity 3: 1) Set up Circuit 3 and simulate the output of the oscilloscope. 2) Fill out the section of the worksheet for Activity 3.

Circuit 3: Full Wave Rectifier

Activity 4: The previous exercises have assumed that you have a center-tapped transformer. What if none is available? The next circuit, the rectifier bridge, does not use the center tap.

Circuit 4: Bridge Rectifier. Note: Due to a printing error, the top contact of T1 is connected to the connection between D1 and D2.

1) Set up Circuit 4 and simulate the oscilloscope readings. 2) Fill out the appropriate section of the worksheet.

Activity 5:

Circuit 5. Bridge Rectifier with filter capacitor.

A capacitor filter is used to make the waveforms more DC. The RC time constant is changed to make a smoother waveform as shown below.

Note: You may have to change the time step of the Multisim to avoid errors in the calculation. This can be done under the Simulation Parameters. 1) Set up Circuit 5 in Multisim. 2) Change the value of the capacitor to create a waveform as smooth or smoother than the one shown in the above picture. 3)

Activity 6:

Circuit 6: Dual Power Supply

1) Set up and simulate Circuit 6. The LM7815 and LM7915 can be found by searching the components. 2) Fill out the appropriate section of the worksheet.