Group no:2

Rahima
Jahangir..
Bs(IT)
Roll no: 25
Maryam hashmi ..
Bs(IT)
Roll no:04

Kainat Saeed..
BS(IT)
Roll no:05
Gul-eBisma..
BS(IT)
Roll no:45

Subject;
BASIC
ELECTRONICS
prof .

ISHAQ..

superior
university..
FINALN PROJECT.
Project Title:

A Zener diode as a voltage regulator.

What is zener diode:

A Zener Diode is a special kind of diode which permits current to

flow in the forward direction as normal, but will also allow it to
flow in the reverse direction when the voltage is above a certain
value the breakdown voltage known as the Zener voltage.
A Zener Diode is an electronic component which can be used
to make a very simple voltage regulator circuit.

Zener diode as a voltage regulator:

The function of a regulator is to provide a constant output voltage
to a load connected in parallel with it in spite of the ripples in the
supply voltage or the variation in the load current and the zener
diode will continue to regulate the voltage until the diodes current
falls below the minimum IZ(min) value in the reverse breakdown
region.

COMPONENTS AND EQUIPMENTS

1. Bettery
2. Zener diode (12 volt)
3. Resistance
4. multimeter
5. wires
6. breadboard

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

DESIGN:
To get a 12 V as output, select SZ 12 as Zener diode .Take load current as 5 mA.
Load current =output voltage\output current
= 5.6/5 mA
= 1.1 K (use 1.2 K)
R1 is used to limit the current .Take 1 K resistor as R1.

THEORY:
Zener diode is a P-N junction diode specially designed to operate in the reverse
biased mode.
It is acting as normal diode while forward biasing.
It has a particular voltage known as break down voltage, at which the diode break
downs while reverse biased.
In the case of normal diodes the diode damages at the break down voltage. But Zener
diode is specially designed to operate in the reverse breakdown region.

Basic Principle:
The basic principle of Zener diode is the Zener breakdown. When a diode is heavily
doped, its depletion region will be narrow. When a high reverse voltage is applied
across the junction, there will be very strong electric field at the junction. And the
electron hole pair generation takes place. Thus heavy current flows. This is known as
Zener break down.
So a Zener diode, in a forward biased condition acts as a normal diode. In reverse biased
mode, after the break down of junction current through diode increases sharply. But the
voltage across it remains constant. This principle is used in voltage regulator using
Zener diodes.

PROCEDURE:
1. Check the components using multimeter
2. Wire up and test a bridge rectifier circuit.
3. Wire up the regulator circuit
4. Apply the output of rectifier to the regulator

5. Now keep the input voltage constant and vary the rheostat at output. Note down the
voltmeter and ammeter readings
6. Now take the voltmeter and ammeter readings by varying the input voltage
6. Plot the graphs for line and load regulation and find the values by taking the slopes of
the graphs.

Calculating voltage and current

The total current drawn from the source is the same as that through the series
resistor

The current through the load resistor is

and the zener diode current is

If the voltage source is greater than Vz

and
If the voltage source is less than Vz

and

OBSERVATIONS:
LINE REGULATION

Vin(volts)

Vout(volts)

Vo(volts)

IL(mA)

GRAPH

LOAD

REGULATION

1. LINE REGULATION
In this type of regulation, series resistance and load resistance are fixed, only input
voltage is changing. Output voltage remains the same as long as the input voltage
is maintained above a minimum value.

Percentage of line regulation can be calculated by =

where V0 is the output voltage and VIN is the input voltage and V0 is the change in
output voltage for a particular change in input voltage VIN.

Line regulation=Change in output\Change in input

2. LOAD REGULATION
In this type of regulation, input voltage is fixed and the load resistance is varying.
Output volt remains same, as long as the load resistance is maintained above a
minimum value.

Percentage of load regulation =

where

is the null load resistor voltage (ie. remove the load resistance and

measure the voltage across the Zener Diode) and

voltage

is the full load resistor

Design a Voltage Regulator

When selecting the zener diode, be sure that its maximum power rating is not
exceeded.

Imax

VZ
Vin
Vs
VL
IS

Maximum current for Zener diode

Zener Diode standard voltage

Input voltage(it is known)

Voltage across series resistance
Voltage across the load resistance
Current passing through the series resistance

IZ
IL

Current passing through the Zener diode

Current passing through the load resistance

Load regulation=Voltage at no load-Voltage at full load\Voltage at no load

RESULT
A Zener voltage regulator was designed .Graphs were plotted. Line
regulation and load regulation was calculated.
Load regulation=.
Line regulation=

Uses of Zener Diodes:

Since the voltage dropped across a Zener Diode is a known and
fixed value, Zener diodes are typically used to regulate the
voltage in electric circuits. Using a resistor to ensure that the
current passing through the Zener diode is at least 5mA (0.005
Amps), the circuit designer knows that the voltage drop across
the diode is exactly equal to the Zener voltage of the diode.