EXPERIMENTAL & MEASUREMENTS

LABORATORY
MM-215

Prof. N K Khosla, Prof. Titas Dasgupta

Prof. Aswani Yella
 Marking procedure

3 quizzes for 10 marks = 30

Each experiment 10 marks = 70

1. Experiment Videos will be uploaded on moodle

2. Bring earphones if you want to watch video in lab
3. 10 TAs and 2 lab assistants
Study of the PC Oscilloscope &
low pass RC filter
Components for the first experiment

Bread board
Resistors
Capacitors
RC filters
Oscilloscope
 What is a breadboard?
[Refer Slide Time: 28:22]
[Refer Slide Time: 28:22]
What are they good for?
Creatings, organizing, and prototyping a circuit.

Literally started out as a bread board with nails.

What are resistors?

Resistors provide a specific amount of resistance to a path in a

circuit or wire. Ohm's law is used to calculate the
properties related to resistance.

Ohm's Law: I = V/R

I = Current measured in Amps
V = Voltage measured in Volts
R = Resistance measured in Ohms

Resistors are color coded.

 Resistor ratings
Physical size of resistors
determines power handling ability

Commonly available as 1/8, 1/4,

1/2, 1,
and 2 watt components

Much higher powers available ,

usually as wirewound or ceramic
encapsulated parts
 Resistors Colour Code

1st 2nd 3rd mul[plier

Tolerance
Resistors Colour Code
 Resistors Colour Code
1st Digit, 2nd Digit, 3rd Digit, Mul[plier

= Colour, Colour, colour x 10colour

Blue, orange, red, gold

Black, Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, Grey,

White
B.B.ROY of Great Britain had a Very Good Wife wearing Gold
& Silver Necklace
Resistor Color Code

Resistor Color Code Wheel Calculator

 Capacitors
• Capacitors are circuit components that store electrical
charge.
• Capacitors have two conductors separated by an
insulator called the dielectric.
• When there is an electric potential across the capacitor
(a difference in the voltage), electrons cannot flow
across the gap; instead, one end becomes positively
charged and the other becomes negatively charged, and
an electric field forms between the conductors.
 Capacitors in Circuits
• When a circuit first comes on, the charge in the capacitor begins to
build. Electrons gathering on one end and vaca[ng the other create
a temporary current as they move. As they do so, the voltage
across the capacitor increases and the current decreases.
• A^er the circuit has been on for a long [me (steady-state), there is
a voltage across the capacitor and no current through it. At steady-
state condi[ons, a capacitor acts like a break in the circuit.
• The symbol for a capacitor is like two plates near one another; this
resembles the construc[on of basic capacitors.

[Picture of plate capacitor]

 Capacitor types

Ceramic disk Monolithic ceramic Dipped siver-mica Mylar Mylar

Ceramic disk
Monolithic ceramic
Dipped silvered-mica
Mylar or polyester
Aluminum electrolytic (+/-)
Tantalum (+/-)

Solid tantalum, polarized Radial aluminum electrolytic Axial aluminum electrolytic

 Capacitors

Values specified in microfarads (µF) or

picofarads (pF)

Marked with actual value or a numeric code

Some varieties are +/- polarized

 Capacitor value code
1st digit, 2nd digit, mul[plier in picofarads

Physical size of capacitors is related to voltage

handling ability

Temperature coefficient may also be important –

can be + or – or nearly zero
 RC circuit
This combination is useful to study because capacitors can be
used to store energy and a resistor placed along with the
capacitor can control the rate at which energy is released from
the capacitor.
 RC circuit
All Electrical circuits suffer from some form of “time-delay”
between its input and output

In a steady state, ideal capacitors draw no current. But if a

circuit is assembled and switched on, one will observe that it
take time for the capacitor to receive its full charge.

This delay is generally known as the time delay or Time

Constant of the circuit

Since capacitors accumulate a charge Q, the resistors in series

with them carry a current I = dQ/dt. The current in the series
R should decrease to zero as C reaches its full charge.
 RC circuit
we can use Kirchoff's Laws to write the voltage drop across the circuit

Vo - R.i(t) - Vc(t) = 0
voltage drop across a capacitor will be Q/C, we can rewrite this equa[on as

dQ/dt + Q/RC = V0/R

Solving the differen[al equa[on we will get

Q(t) = Qo(1-e-t/RC)
Since the voltage is related to the charge by V= Q/C, we can rewrite this as

VC = V0(1-e-t/RC)

i(t) = i0e-t/RC
RC circuit
RC circuit
 RC circuit
The graphs as a func[on of [me signifies

a.) Ini[ally, the current through an RC circuit in which the capacitor is ini[ally uncharged
is at a maximum. That is, the capacitor ini[ally acts like it is a short (i.e., not even there).
It isn't un[l charge begins to accumulate that charge flow begins to diminish.

b.) one [me constant.

One [me constant is defined as τ = RC
Puing one [me constant into our current expression (i.e., leing t = RC) yields:
i = ioe-RC/RC = io(e-1) = 0.37io.
[me it takes the circuit's current to diminish to 37% of its ini[al value.
[me required for the capacitor to charge to 63% of its maximum

Mul[plying the value of the capacitance and resistance together, the number we end up
with will have the units of ------
 RC circuit

VC = V0e-t/RC
i(t) = i0(1-e-t/RC)
RC circuit
 RC circuit

The charge/discharge characteris[cs of a capacitor in an RC

circuit are symmetric.
 RC circuit

Pulsed or a square wave that changes constantly

from a maxima to minima with a certain frequency
RC circuit
RC circuit
RC circuit
 RC circuit applications
The internal working of a camera´s flash
is a good example of RC circuits

When the camera is switched on,

the banery slowly charges up the
capacitor to its full poten[al
via an RC Circuit

The flash rapidly draws current inorder to emit the bright light

Discharge of capacitor through flash and

current from the capacitor is responsible for the bright light
RC circuit applications

The capacitor is charged by the

source voltage Vs

VC = VS
(fully charged)
 RC circuit applications
Disconnec[ng the capacitor from the voltage source and
connec[ng to flash resistor

Capacitor discharges across the resistor

RC circuit applications
 RC filters
Sine wave instead of a square wave

What will be output waveform in the case of sine wave?

How about the amplitude?

 RC filters

An electrical filter is a circuit which filter-out unwanted

signals and an ideal filter will separate and pass
sinusoidal input signals based upon their frequency

Filters are so named according to the frequency range of

signals that they allow to pass through them, while blocking
the rest.

1. The Low Pass Filter - 0Hz to fc

2. The High Pass Filter - fc to infinity
3. The Band Pass Filter - 0Hz- fL and fH-infinity
 RC filters
Ideal filter response

By changing the posi[ons of the Resistor, R or the Capacitor, C a

simple first order low pass or high pass filters can be made with the
frequency response of these two circuits dependant on the input
frequency
 RC filters
Capacitor in an AC circuit will have
capaci[ve reactance XC

XC = 1/2πfC in ohm´s

Vout = Vin (Xc/(R2 + Xc2)1/2)

Calculate frequency dependence of a 47kohm resistor in series with a 47nF capacitor
Connected across a 10V sinusoidal supply with two different frequencies 100Hz and 10KHz

Above the cut-off frequency everything else will be blocked

fc = 1/2πRC
 RC filters

Above the cut-off frequency point, the reactance of the capacitor has reduced
sufficiently as to now act more like a short circuit allowing all of the input signal to
pass directly to the output as shown below in the filters response curve
RC filters
 Summary

Low pass RC filter

RC circuit in DC voltage

High pass RC filter

THANK YOU
 Capacitors in AC circuit
In an
AC Circuit in which the applied voltage signal is con[nually changing from a posi[ve to a
nega[ve polarity at a rate determined by the frequency of the supply, as in the case of a sine
wave voltage, for example, the capacitor is either being charged or discharged on a
con[nuous basis at a rate determined by the supply frequency.
As the capacitor charges or discharges, a current flows through it which is restricted by the
internal resistance of the capacitor. This internal resistance is commonly known as Capaci[ve
Reactance and is given the symbol XC in Ohms.
 Capacitors in AC circuit
Unlike resistance which has a fixed value, for example, 100Ωs, 1kΩ, 10kΩ etc, (this is because
resistance obeys Ohms Law), Capaci[ve Reactance varies with the applied frequency so any
varia[on in supply frequency will have a big effect on the capacitors, “capaci[ve reactance”
value.
As the frequency applied to the capacitor increases, its effect is to decrease its reactance
(measured in ohms). Likewise as the frequency across the capacitor decreases its reactance
value increases. This varia[on is called the capacitors complex impedance.
Complex impedance exists because the electrons in the form of an electrical charge on the
capacitor plates, pass from one plate to the other more rapidly with respect to the varying
frequency.
As the frequency increases, the capacitor passes more charge across the plates in a given
[me resul[ng in a greater current flow through the capacitor appearing as if the internal
resistance of the capacitor has decreased. Therefore, a capacitor connected to a circuit that
changes over a given range of frequencies can be said to be “Frequency Dependant”.
Capacitive Reactance
RC circuits
 RC filters
The impedance of resistor R1 does not change with frequency. Resistors are of fixed values
and are unaffected by frequency change. Then the voltage across resistor R1 and therefore
the output voltage is determined by the capaci[ve reactance of the capacitor at a given
frequency. This then results in a frequency-dependent RC voltage divider circuit. With this
idea in mind, passive Low Pass Filters and High Pass Filters can be constructed by replacing
one of the voltage divider resistors with a suitable capacitor as shown.
Analog to Digital Converter
 Analog Signals
Analog signals – directly measurable quan[[es
in terms of some other quan[ty
 Analog Signals
Analog signals – directly measurable quan[[es
in terms of some other quan[ty
Examples:
• Thermometer – mercury height rises as
temperature rises
• Car Speedometer – Needle moves farther
right as you accelerate
• Stereo – Volume increases as you turn the
knob.
 Digital Signals
Digital Signals – have only two states. For digital
computers, we refer to binary states, 0 and 1.
“1” can be on, “0” can be off.
Examples:
• Light switch can be either on or off
• Door to a room is either open or closed
 Digital Signals
Digital Signals – have only two states. For digital
computers, we refer to binary states, 0 and 1.
“1” can be on, “0” can be off.
 Examples of A/D Applica[ons
• Microphones - take your voice varying pressure waves in the air
and convert them into varying electrical signals

• Strain Gages - determines the amount of strain (change in

dimensions) when a stress is applied

• Thermocouple – temperature measuring device converts

thermal energy to electric energy

• Voltmeters
• Digital Mul[meters
 Analog à Digital Conversion
2-Step Process:

• Quan[zing - breaking down analog value is a

set of finite states
• Encoding - assigning a digital word or number
to each state and matching it to the input
signal
 Step 1: Quan[zing
Output Discrete Voltage
Example: States Ranges (V)
You have 0-10V signals. 0 0.00-1.25
Separate them into a set 1 1.25-2.50
of discrete states with
2 2.50-3.75
1.25V increments. (How
did we get 1.25V?) 3 3.75-5.00
4 5.00-6.25
5 6.25-7.50
Reference input voltage
6 7.50-8.75

Digital word width 7 8.75-10.0

 Step 1: Quan[zing
The number of possible states that the converter
can output is:
N=2n
where n is the number of bits in the AD converter

Example: For a 3 bit A/D converter, N=23=8.

Analog quan;za;on size:
Q=(Vmax-Vmin)/N = (10V – 0V)/8 = 1.25V
 Accuracy of A/D Conversion
There are two ways to best improve accuracy of A/D
conversion:

• increasing the resolu[on which improves the

accuracy in measuring the amplitude of the analog
signal.

• increasing the sampling rate which increases the

maximum frequency that can be measured.
 Resolu[on

• Resolu[on (number of discrete values the converter can

produce) = Analog Quan[za[on size (Q)
(Q) = Vrange / 2^n, where Vrange is the range of analog
voltages which can be represented

• In our previous example: Q = 1.25V, this is a high resolu[on.

A lower resolu[on would be if we used a 2-bit converter, then
the resolu[on would be 10/2^2 = 2.50V.
 Sampling Rate

Frequency at which ADC evaluates analog signal. As we see in

the second picture, evalua[ng the signal more o^en more
accurately depicts the ADC signal.
 Overall Bener Accuracy

• Increasing both the sampling rate and the resolu[on you

can obtain bener accuracy in your AD signals.
 Step 2: Encoding
Output Output Binary Equivalent
States
0 000
• Here we assign the 1 001
digital value (binary 2 010
number) to each state
3 011
for the computer to
4 100
read.
5 101
6 110
7 111
 Just what does an
A/D converter DO?

• Converts analog signals into binary words

DAC - based design
DAC - based design
 Successive Approxima[on ADC

• A Successive Approxima[on Register (SAR) is

added to the circuit
• Instead of coun[ng up in binary sequence, this
register counts by trying all values of bits
star[ng with the MSB and finishing at the LSB.
• The register monitors the comparators output
to see if the binary count is greater or less
than the analog signal input and adjusts the
bits accordingly
 Successive Approxima[on ADC Circuit

Example conversion on an 8-bit ADC with 5V reference voltage

Bit: Bit 7 Bit 6 Bit 5 Bit 4 Bit 3 Bit 2 Bit 1 Bit 0

Volts: 2.5 1.25 0.625 0.3125 0.156 0.078 0.039 0.0195
olution will actually measure unknown weights up to 63 lb rather than 40 lb as stated
Successive Approxima[on
em). The algorithm is shown in Figure 4 where the unknown weight is 45 lbs. T
cale analogy is used to demonstrate the algorithm.
Example ASSUME X = 45
X
TEST

IS X ≥ 32 ? YES RETAIN 32 1

IS X ≥ (32 +16) ? NO REJECT 16 0

IS X ≥ (32 +8) ? YES RETAIN 8 1

IS X ≥ (32 +8 + 4) ? YES RETAIN 4 1

IS X ≥ (32 +8 + 4 + 2) ? NO REJECT 2 0

IS X ≥ (32 +8 + 4 + 2 + 1) ? YES RETAIN 1 1

TOTALS: X = 32 + 8 + 4 + 1 = 4510 = 1011012

 Successive Approxima[on
Example
• 10 bit resolu[on or
0.0009765625V of Vref
• Vin= .6 volts
• Vref=1volts
• Find the digital value of
Vin
 Successive Approxima[on
• MSB (bit 9)
– Divided Vref by 2
– Compare Vref /2 with Vin
– If Vin is greater than Vref /2 , turn MSB on (1)
– If Vin is less than Vref /2 , turn MSB off (0)
– Vin =0.6V and V=0.5
– Since Vin>V, MSB = 1 (on)
 Successive Approxima[on
• Next Calculate MSB-1 (bit 8)
– Compare Vin=0.6 V to V=Vref/2 + Vref/4= 0.5+0.25 =0.75V
– Since 0.6<0.75, MSB is turned off
• Calculate MSB-2 (bit 7)
– Go back to the last voltage that caused it to be turned on (Bit 9)
and add it to Vref/8, and compare with Vin
– Compare Vin with (0.5+Vref/8)=0.625
– Since 0.6<0.625, MSB is turned off
 Successive Approxima[on
• Calculate the state of MSB-3 (bit 6)
– Go to the last bit that caused it to be turned on (In
this case MSB-1) and add it to Vref/16, and
compare it to Vin
– Compare Vin to V= 0.5 + Vref/16= 0.5625
– Since 0.6>0.5625, MSB-3=1 (turned on)
 Successive Approxima[on
• This process con[nues for all the remaining
bits.
 IC-555 [mer
Clock pulses are generally con[nuous square or rectangular shaped
waveform that is produced by a single pulse generator circuit such
as a Mul[vibrator or an oscillator.
 IC-555 [mer
• There are basically three types of clock pulse
genera[on circuits:
• Astable – A free-running mul-vibrator that has NO stable
states but switches con[nuously between two states this
ac[on produces a train of square wave pulses at a fixed
frequency.
• Monostable – A one-shot mul-vibrator that has only ONE
stable state and is triggered externally with it returning back
to its first stable state.
• Bistable – A flip-flop that has TWO stable states that produces
a single pulse either posi[ve or nega[ve in value.
 IC-555 [mer
Mul[vibrators can be easily
constructed from discrete
components for genera[ng
basic square wave output
waveforms

This [mer uses a maze

of transistors, diodes
and resistors and for this
complex reason a more
simplified block diagram
is used to explain the
internal organiza[ons of
the 555

equivalent of over 20 transistors, 15 resistors, and 2

 IC-555 [mer
• The 555 [mer which gets its name from the
three 5kΩ resistors it uses to generate the two
comparators reference voltage, is a very
cheap, popular and useful precision [ming
device that can act as either a simple [mer to
generate single pulses or long [me delays, or
as a relaxa[on oscillator producing stabilized
waveforms of varying duty cycles from 50 to
100%.
 IC-555 [mer
• The 555 [mer chip is extremely robust and stable 8-
pin device that can be operated either as a very
accurate monostable, bistable or astable
mul[vibrator to produce a variety of applica[ons
such as delay [mers, pulse genera[on, LED and lamp
flashers, converters, etc and infact any circuit that
requires some form of [me control
 IC-555 [mer
All IC [mers rely upon an external capacitor
to determine the off-on [me intervals of the
output pulses. It takes a finite period of [me
for a capacitor (C) to charge or discharge
through a resistor (R). Those [mes are clearly
defined and can be calculated given the
values of resistance and capacitance.
The basic RC charging circuit is shown in fig.
Assume that the capacitor is ini[ally
discharged. When the switch is closed, the
capacitor begins to charge through the
resistor. The voltage across the capacitor rises
from zero up to the value of the applied DC
voltage. The charge curve for the circuit is
shown in fig. 6. The [me that it takes for the
capacitor to charge to 63.7% of the applied
voltage is known as the [me constant (t).
That [me can be calculated with the simple
 IC-555 [mer
Switch S OPEN for Vc ≤ 2/3Vs (Capacitor charges)
Switch S CLOSES for Vc > 2/3Vs (Capacitor discharges)
And S remain CLOSED until Vc ≥ 1/3Vs

Switch S OPENS when Vc < 1/3Vs

(Again capacitor charges)
 IC-555 [mer
pin 2 and pin 6 are
connected together
allowing the circuit to re-
trigger itself on each and
every cycle allowing it to
operate as a free running
oscillator. During each cycle
capacitor, C charges up
through both [ming
resistors, R1 and R2 but
discharges itself only
through resistor, R2 as the
other side of R2 is
connected to the discharge
terminal, pin 7.
IC-555 [mer
 IC-555 [mer
• When connected as an astable mul[vibrator,
the output from the 555 Oscillator will
con[nue indefinitely charging and discharging
between 2/3Vcc and 1/3Vcc un[l the power
supply is removed. As with the monostable
mul[vibrator these charge and discharge
[mes and therefore the frequency are
independent on the supply voltage.
Any Ques;ons?