The pulsating
DC from the half wave rectifier needs to be smoothed to be useful.
This is done
using a RESERVOIR capacitor.
It is not called
this because of its construction but because of its application.
In the UK the
weather is very variable. Sometimes we have periods of drought and sometimes
periods of prolonged rain. April is very showery and occasionally we have
snow in Winter.
However, when
I turn on the shower, the water always comes out at the same steady rate.
This is because
it has been stored in a reservoir and is released as required.
It is the same
with the reservoir capacitor.
The capacitor
is charged up by the pulses.
It stores the
pulses of voltage and the load is able to use this stored power as if it
were a steady supply available from a battery.
Looking at the
first waveform, the red line indicates the voltage across the capacitor.
When the first
pulse arrives the capacitor charges up to the peak voltage.
When this pulse
has ended, the capacitor voltage starts to fall as the load takes energy
from the capacitor.
However, the
voltage falls only slightly before the next pulse arrives to recharge the
capacitor to the peak voltage.
The result is
a DC voltage with a superimposed 50 Hz (in the UK) ripple.
This is shown
in the second waveform.
At low frequencies
the capacitor is usually an electrolytic type, but at higher frequencies,
where smaller values are required, other types can be used.
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