Half Wave Rectifier Voltage Calculator

Formula

The formula to calculate the DC voltage (V_dc) for a given peak voltage (V_peak) in a half wave rectifier is:

\[ V_{dc} = \frac{V_{peak}}{\pi} \]

Where:

\( V_{dc} \) is the DC Voltage.
\( V_{peak} \) is the Peak Voltage.
\( \pi \) is the mathematical constant Pi (approximately 3.14159).

What is a Half Wave Rectifier?

A half wave rectifier is a type of rectifier that converts only one half of the input AC signal into a pulsating DC signal. It uses a single diode to allow current to pass through only during the positive half cycles of the AC input. The result is a DC output that pulsates in sync with the input AC signal, but with only half the waveform present. Half wave rectifiers are simpler and cheaper than full wave rectifiers, but they are less efficient and produce more ripple in the output.

Example Calculation

Consider an example where:

Peak Voltage (V_peak): 10 V

Using the formula to calculate the DC Voltage:

\[ V_{dc} = \frac{10}{3.14159} = 3.18 \text{ V} \]

This means that the DC voltage for this example is approximately 3.18 V.