Tripoli University

Faculty of Engineering
Electrical & Electronic Engineering Department

Tutorial (4) - Tuesday, December 25, 2012

EE219 - Basic Electronic Circuits Fall 2012

Eng. Taissir Y. Elganimi

1. Assume that the diodes in the circuit shown below are ideal; find the values of the voltage
and currents (1 , 2 , , and ).
[ 2008 ]

Solution:

If the diodes 1 and 2 are in the ON state, the current through is

5
=

And the current through 2 is
5
2 =

And 2 is always in the ON state.

The current through 1 is

1 1
1 = 2 = 5 (X)

1 and 2 are in the ON state if the current through 1 is positive, i.e. ( ). And the
output voltage ( ) is equal to 0 .

If ( > ), 1 will be OFF, because 1 is negative according to equation (X). And the
current through 2 is equal to
5+5
2 = =
+
And the output voltage ( ) is

Tutorial (4) 1
Tutorial Lectures on Basic Electronic Circuits [EE219] - Prepared by Eng. Taissir Y. Elganimi - in Fall 2012

5+5
= 5 + 2 = 5 +
+

2. () Repeat example (6) if = 5 and = 10 .

[. 1 = 0.5 , 2 = 0.5 , = 1 , = 0 ]
3. () Repeat example (6) if = 10 and = 5 .
[. 1 = 0, 2 = = 0.666 , = 1.666 ]

4. The diode D in the following circuit is characterized by = 2 and exhibits a voltage drop of
0.7 when the diode is 1 . If and are measured and found to be 0.8
and 0.005 , respectively, determine and .
[ 2010]

Solution:
At 1 = 1 1 = 0.7

But 2 = ? ? = 2 = 0.8
3
1 = 1 1 1 = 0.7(2)2510 1

The reverse saturation current = 8.318 1010

3
2 = 2 1 = (8.318 1010 ) 0.8(2)2510 1 = 7.387

= (500 ) + 0.8 = .

Now recall that the dynamic (i.e. small-signal) resistance of a diode is

(2)(25 103 )
= = = 6.768
7.388 103
The small-signal equivalent circuit as shown

Tutorial (4) 2
Tutorial Lectures on Basic Electronic Circuits [EE219] - Prepared by Eng. Taissir Y. Elganimi - in Fall 2012

6.768
= 0.005 = = = .
+ 500 6.768 + 500

5. Assuming that the diode in the circuit shown has a voltage drop of = 0.7 when forward
biased, () = 8 + 0.5 sin(), A = 3.0 , B = 1.5 , = 1.5, and = 2.2 ,
determine:
a) The current , 1 and 2 and the reverse saturation current ,
b) The voltage and () across the load.

[ 2009]

Solution:
Initially we assume that both diodes 1 and 2 are ON. We replace the diodes with their large
signal models. The resulting circuit will then be shown below,

Writing KVL expressions for the three loops,

8 3 2 + 3 1 1.5 2 + 1.5 3 0.7 = 0

0.7 + 3 1 3 2 = 0

& 0.7 1.5 3 + 1.5 2 2.2 3 = 0

Tutorial (4) 3
Tutorial Lectures on Basic Electronic Circuits [EE219] - Prepared by Eng. Taissir Y. Elganimi - in Fall 2012

Where currents are in () and resistors are in (). Solving the three equations
simultaneously, we get,

1 = 7.4846 , 2 = 7.7179 & 3 = 3.3179

Since the three currents are positive, our initial assumption that diodes 1 and 2 are ON is
correct.

Then the total current ( ) is

= 2 = .

And the currents through the diodes 1 and 2 are

1 = 1 = .

& 2 = 2 3 = .

The reverse saturation current for 1

1 = 1 1 1 7.4846 = 1 0.7(1.5)(25) 1

1 = .

The reverse saturation current for 2

2 = 2 2 1 4.4 = 2 0.7(1.5)(25) 1

2 = .

Then the DC output voltage ( ) is

= 3 = 8 1 = .

The small-signal equivalent circuit as shown, and the dynamic (i.e. small-signal) resistance of
a diode 1 is

(1.5)(25 103 )
1 = =
1 7.4846 103

= 5.0102

And the dynamic resistance of a

diode 2 is

(1.5)(25 103 )
2 = =
2 4.4 103

= 8.5227

Tutorial (4) 4
Tutorial Lectures on Basic Electronic Circuits [EE219] - Prepared by Eng. Taissir Y. Elganimi - in Fall 2012

[2.2 (1.5 + 2 )]
() = 0.5 sin() = . ()
[2.2 (1.5 + 2 )] + (3 1 )

6. For the following circuit, the diodes are identical with = 1.4 and both exhibit a voltage
drop = 0.7 at a diode current of = 1 .
a) What is the value of the reverse saturation current for the diodes used here?
b) Determine the value of that result in a nominal DC load voltage = 1.5 .
c) Use a small-signal analysis to determine .
[ 2010]

[. () 2.062 , () 0.728 , () 0.0208 ]

Good Luck

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