Experiment 5

Frequency Response of Low Pass and

High Pass Filters
In this experiment we will vary the frequency of the input source and measure the effect
on the RC and RL circuits, through studying their voltage response. We will see that changing
the frequency will lead to having what is called frequency selective circuits (known as filters)
which decide what signal frequency is to be transmitted to the output and which one will be
rejected.

Objective
- To construct and study the frequency response characteristics of passive low pass and high
pass filter.

- To compare the theoretical and practical cut – off frequency.

Theory
The 2 RC circuits below (Figure 54) represent 2 types of filters: Low pass and high pass
filters. Their ideal Responses are presented in Figure 55.

Figure 54: First order RC filters

124
 Figure 55: Response of the above 2 circuit: the gain = Vo/Vi is plotted in decibels versus the
frequency.

Pre-lab
Do a quantitative study and find the expression of the transfer function H(ω), the
magnitude |H(ω)|and the cutoff frequency for each of the filters seen above for C = 0.1 μF and R
= 1 KΩ.

Equipment and material

1 KΩ resistor, 0.1 μF capacitor, Oscilloscope, function generator, breadboard, wires

Formulas
• Cut – Off frequency measured at V0 = Vin/√2

• Gain in dB = 20 log (Vo/ Vin)

Where Vo = Output Voltage (volts) and Vin = Input Voltage (volts)

Procedure
1. Connect the elements as shown in the circuit diagram (Figure 54).

2. Switch on the function generator and set it in sine wave mode.

3. Choose a particular frequency (say 1 kHz) in the function generator.

4. With the help of OSC, adjust the input voltage to be 1 volts peak value.

125
5. Reduce the input frequency to 100 Hz.

6. Starting from 100 Hz, observe and tabulate the peak values of output voltage for various input
frequencies well beyond the cut – off frequency (say up to 2 MHz).

7. Calculate the gain in dB using the given formulae and tabulate them.

8. Plot a graph between frequencies versus gain in dB in a semi – log sheet.

9. Calculate the practical cut – off frequency from the graph and note it down.

Tabular Column:

A- Low Pass Filter

Input Voltage Vin = 2 volts (peak to peak)

Table 51: low pass filter observations

Input Frequency Output Voltage

S.No. Gain in dB =
Fin (Hz) Vo (volts)

126
B- High Pass Filter
Input Voltage Vin = 2 volts (peak to peak)

Table 52: high-pass filter observations

Input Frequency Output Voltage

S.No. Gain in dB =
Fin (Hz) Vo (volts)

127
Result
a. Thus, passive low pass and high pass filters have been constructed and their frequency
response has been obtained.

b. The theoretical and practical cut – off frequencies of both filters have been obtained and
should be tabulated below (Table 53).

Table 53: low-pass/high-pass summary result

Name of the Filter Cut – Off Frequency (Hz)

Theoretical Practical

Low Pass Filter

High Pass Filter

Discuss the Results:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

128
 Band-pass and Band reject filters
Objective
To obtain the frequency response of series and parallel RLC resonant circuits (Figure 56).
The 2 circuits have Band-pass and band-reject Filters behaviors, whose ideal responses are
depicted in Figure 57.

Theory

Figure 56: Band-pass and band-reject filters

Figure 57: The response of the band-pass (left) and band-stop (right)

Pre-lab
Do a quantitative study and find the expression of the transfer function H(ω), the
magnitude |H(ω)|, the 2 cutoff frequency, center frequency and bandwidth for each of the filters
seen above for C = 0.1 μF, R = 1 KΩ and L = 5.5 mH.

129
Equipment and material
1 KΩ resistor, 0.1 μF capacitor, 5.5 mH, Oscilloscope, function generator, breadboard,
wires

Formula
a. Resonant Frequency (center frequency f0): H(ω) = Hmax ≈ 1, i.e: Vo = Vin

b. Cut – Off frequencies (fc1 and fc2) measured at V0 = Vin/√2

c. Bandwidth: β = fc2 – fc1

d. Quality Factor = f0/β.

e. Gain in dB = 20 log (Vo/ Vin)

f. Where Vo = Output Voltage (volts) and Vin = Input Voltage (volts)

Procedure
a. Connect the elements as shown in the circuit diagram (Figure 56).

b. Switch on the function generator and set it in sine wave mode.

c. Choose a particular frequency (say 1 kHz) in the function generator.

d. With the help of OSC, adjust the input voltage to be 1 volts peak value.

e. Reduce the input frequency to 100 Hz.

f. Starting from 100 Hz, observe and tabulate the peak values of output voltage for various input
frequencies well beyond the resonant frequency (say up to 2 MHz).

g. Calculate and tabulate the voltage/current magnitude at the output.

h. Repeat the above steps for one more resistance value.

i. Plot a graph of the current versus frequency in a semi – log sheet.

j. Observe the resonant frequency F0 from the plot and tabulate it.

k. Calculate the upper and lower cut – off frequencies from the graph and note down.

l. Calculate the quality factor and bandwidth (for both the resistance values) using the given
formulas and tabulate it.

130
 A- Series Resonant Circuit
Input Voltage Vin = 2 V (peak to peak)

Table 54: band pass filter observations

Resistance Resistance
Frequency f (Hz)
R= R=
Peak value of Peak value of
output voltage Current output voltage Current
Vo (volts) Vo (volts)

131
 B- Parallel Resonant Circuit:
Input Voltage Vin = 2 V (peak to peak)

Table 55: band-reject filter observations

Resistance Resistance
Frequency f (Hz)
R= R=
Peak value of Peak value of
output voltage Current output voltage Current
Vo (volts) Vo (volts)

132
Result:
Thus, the frequency response of a Series and Parallel RLC circuits were obtained. The
following parameters were obtained experimentally and should be recorded in the tables below.

i) Series Resonant Circuit:

Theoretical Resonant(center) Frequency = Hz.

Practical Resonant (center) Frequency = Hz.

Table 56: Bandpass filter – summary table measurement

Upper Cut – Off Lower Cut – Off Quality Bandwidth B.W. (Hz)
Resistance Frequency Frequency Factor
(ohms) Theoretical Practical
f2 (Hz) f1 (Hz) Q

ii) Parallel Resonant Circuit:

Theoretical Resonant Frequency = Hz.

Practical Resonant Frequency = Hz.

Table 57: Bandstop filter – summary table measurement

Upper Cut – Off Lower Cut – Off Quality Bandwidth B.W. (Hz)
Resistance Frequency Frequency Factor
(ohms) Theoretical Practical
f2 (Hz) f1 (Hz) Q

133
Discuss the results:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

134