Department: ECE Department

Semester Fall 2021

Course Code: ECE 211 Course Name: Intro. Electronics Engineering

Instructor: Dr. Ahmed Abd El-Malek

Problem Set 2
3
𝐵 = 7.3 × 1015 cm−3 K −2 for Silicon, k: Boltzmanns’s constant = 8.62 × 10−5 eV/K, Bandgap Energy
𝐸𝑔 = 1.12 V for Silicon

1) For the circuits shown in figure below using ideal diodes, find the values of the voltages
and currents indicated.

2) For the circuits shown in figure below using ideal diodes, find the values of the labeled
voltages and currents.

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Department: ECE Department
Semester Fall 2021

Course Code: ECE 211 Course Name: Intro. Electronics Engineering

Instructor: Dr. Ahmed Abd El-Malek

3) In each of the ideal-diode circuits shown in figure below, vI is a 1-kHz, 5-V peak sine wave.
Sketch the waveform resulting at vO. What are its positive and negative peak values?

4) The circuit shown in figure below is a model for a battery charger. Here vI is a 6V peak
sine wave, D1 and D2 are ideal diodes, I is a 60-mA current source, and B is a 3-V battery.
Sketch and label the waveform of the battery current iB. What is its peak value? What is its
average value? If the peak value of vI is reduced by 10%, what do the peak and average
values of iB become?

5) Assuming that the diodes in the circuits below are ideal, find the values of the labeled
voltages and currents.

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Department: ECE Department
Semester Fall 2021

Course Code: ECE 211 Course Name: Intro. Electronics Engineering

Instructor: Dr. Ahmed Abd El-Malek

6) Assuming that the diodes in the circuits below are ideal, utilize Thevenin’s theorem to
simplify the circuits and thus find the values of the labeled currents and voltages.

7) For the rectifier circuit shown below, let the input sine wave have 120-V rms value and
assume the diode to be ideal. Select a suitable value for R so that the peak diode current

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Department: ECE Department
Semester Fall 2021

Course Code: ECE 211 Course Name: Intro. Electronics Engineering

Instructor: Dr. Ahmed Abd El-Malek

does not exceed 40 mA. What is the greatest reverse voltage that will appear across the
diode?

8) At what forward voltage does a diode conduct a current equal to 10,000IS? In terms of IS,
what current flows in the same diode when its forward voltage is 0.7 V?
9) A diode for which the forward voltage drop is 0.7 V at 1.0 mA is operated at 0.5 V. What
is the value of the current?
10) A particular diode is found to conduct 1 mA with a junction voltage of 0.7 V. What current
will flow in this diode if the junction voltage is raised to 0.71 V? To 0.8 V? If the junction
voltage is lowered to 0.69 V? To 0.6 V? What change in junction voltage will increase the
diode current by a factor of 10?
11) The circuit below utilizes three identical diodes having 𝐼𝑆 = 10−14 A. Find the value of
the current I required to obtain an output voltage 𝑉𝑂 = 2.0 V. If a current of 1 mA is drawn
away from the output terminal by a load, what is the change in output voltage?

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Department: ECE Department
Semester Fall 2021

Course Code: ECE 211 Course Name: Intro. Electronics Engineering

Instructor: Dr. Ahmed Abd El-Malek

12) Two diodes with saturation currents IS1 and IS2 are connected in parallel with their cathodes
joined together and connected to grounds. The two anodes are joined together and fed
with a constant current I. Find the currents ID1 and ID2 that flow through the two diodes,
and the voltage VD that appears across their parallel combination.
13) Four diodes are connected in parallel: anodes joined together and fed with a constant current
I, and cathodes joined together and connected to ground. What relative junction areas should
these diodes have if their currents must have binary-weighted ratios, with the smallest being
0.1 mA? What value of I is needed?
14) In the circuit shown below, D1 has 10 times the junction area of D2. What value of V
results? To obtain a value for V of 60 mV, what current I2 is needed?

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Department: ECE Department
Semester Fall 2021

Course Code: ECE 211 Course Name: Intro. Electronics Engineering

Instructor: Dr. Ahmed Abd El-Malek

15) For the circuit shown below, both diodes are identical. Find the value of R for which V =50
mV.

16) When a 10-A current is applied to a particular diode, it is found that the junction voltage
immediately becomes 700 mV. However, as the power being dissipated in the diode raises
its temperature, it is found that the voltage decreases and eventually reaches 600 mV. What
is the apparent rise in junction temperature? What is the power dissipated in the diode in its
final state? What is the temperature rise per watt of power dissipation? (This is called the
thermal resistance.)

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Department: ECE Department
Semester Fall 2021

Course Code: ECE 211 Course Name: Intro. Electronics Engineering

Instructor: Dr. Ahmed Abd El-Malek

17) Consider the half-wave rectifier circuit below with the diode reversed. Let vS be a sinusoid
with 10-V peak amplitude, and let R = 1 kΩ. Use the constant-voltage-drop diode model
with VD = 0.7 V.

a) Sketch the transfer characteristic.

b) Sketch the waveform of vO.
c) Find the average value of vO.
d) Find the peak current in the diode.
e) Find the PIV of the diode.
18) A half-wave rectifier circuit with a 1-kΩ load operates from a 120-V (rms) 60-Hz household
supply through a 12-to-1 step-down transformer. It uses a silicon diode that can be modeled
to have a 0.7-V drop for any current.
a. What is the peak voltage of the rectified output?
b. For what fraction of the cycle does the diode conduct?
c. What is the average output voltage?
d. What is the average current in the load?

Augment the rectifier circuit with a capacitor chosen to provide a peak-to-peak ripple
voltage of (i) 10% of the peak output and (ii) 1% of the peak output. In each case:

e. What average output voltage results?

f. What fraction of the cycle does the diode conduct?
g. What is the average diode current?
h. What is the peak diode current?

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Department: ECE Department
Semester Fall 2021

Course Code: ECE 211 Course Name: Intro. Electronics Engineering

Instructor: Dr. Ahmed Abd El-Malek

19) A full-wave rectifier circuit with a 1-kΩ load operates from a 120-V (rms) 60-Hz household
supply through a 6-to-1 transformer having a center-tapped secondary winding. It uses two
silicon diodes that can be modeled to have a 0.7-V drop for all currents. What is the peak
voltage of the rectified output? For what fraction of a cycle does each diode conduct? What
is the average output voltage? What is the average current in the load?
20) A full-wave bridge-rectifier circuit with a 1-kΩ load operates from a 120-V (rms) 60-Hz
household supply through a 12-to-1 step-down transformer having a single secondary
winding. It uses four diodes, each of which can be modeled to have a 0.7-V drop for any
current. What is the peak value of the rectified voltage across the load? For what fraction of
a cycle does each diode conduct? What is the average voltage across the load? What is the
average current through the load?
21) Consider the full-wave rectifier in figure below when the transformer turns ratio is such that
the voltage across the entire secondary winding is 20 V rms. If the input ac line voltage (120
V rms) fluctuates by as much as ±10%, find the required PIV of the diodes. (Remember to
use a factor of safety in your design.)

22) Sketch the transfer characteristic vO versus vI for the limiter circuits shown below. All diodes
begin conducting at a forward voltage drop of 0.5 V and have voltage drops of 0.7 V when
conducting a current iD ≥ 1 mA

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Department: ECE Department
Semester Fall 2021

Course Code: ECE 211 Course Name: Intro. Electronics Engineering

Instructor: Dr. Ahmed Abd El-Malek

23) Design limiter circuits using only diodes and 10-kΩ resistors to provide an output signal
limited to the range:
a. –0.7 V and above
b. +2.1 V and below
c. ±1.4 V
24) Design a two-sided limiting circuit using a resistor, two diodes, and two power supplies to
feed a 1-k load with nominal limiting levels of ±2.2 V. Use diodes modeled by a constant
0.7 V. In the nonlimiting region, the voltage gain should be at least 0.94 V/V.
25) A clamped capacitor using an ideal diode with cathode grounded is supplied with a sine
wave of 5-V rms. What is the average (dc) value of the resulting output?
26) For the circuits in Figure below, each utilizing an ideal diode (or diodes), sketch the output
for the input shown. Label the most positive and most negative output levels. Assume CR
>> T

Page 9 of 10
Department: ECE Department
Semester Fall 2021

Course Code: ECE 211 Course Name: Intro. Electronics Engineering

Instructor: Dr. Ahmed Abd El-Malek

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