Lecture 8 Flashcards
What are the main components of a DC power supply?
Transformer, rectifier, filter, regulator.
What is a capacitor and how is it constructed?
A passive component made of two metal plates separated by an insulating material called dielectric, used to store electric charge in the form of an electric field.
Describe the charging and discharging process of a capacitor.
Charging - positive and negative charges gather on the plates
Discharging - charges leave the capacitor when a path is created
Capacitance (measured in farads (F)) determines maximum charge storage.
What is ripple voltage in power supplies?
There is a variation in capacitor voltage due to charging and discharging. Smaller ripple indicates better filtering action. Full-wave rectifiers have smaller ripples than half-wave rectifiers.
What are voltage regulators and why are they important?
Electronic circuits that maintain stable output voltage. They protect sensitive components from voltage fluctuations. Linear regulators adjust series pass element to drop excess input voltage.
How do smoothing capacitors work in power supplies?
Smoothing capacitors store energy during rising waveforms and release energy when waveform is falling or at zero. There are smooth lumps in rectified signals.
