Lab # 11 Passive First Order Low Pass & High Pass Filter

➢ To design RC low pass & high pass filter circuit with cutoff
frequency of 5KHZ, also draw a frequency response: (a) magnitude
response (b) phase response.
➢ To design RL low pass & high pass filter circuit with cutoff
frequency of 5KHZ, also draw a frequency response: (a) magnitude
response (b) phase response.

Introduction:

This laboratory studies the use of passive components to create filters to separate portions of
time-dependent waveforms. Filters are an essential tool in our complex world of mixed
signals —both electronic and otherwise. Passive components (resistors, capacitors, and
inductors) have long served as filter components for everything from selecting radio stations
to filtering out electrical noise.
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES:
(1) Learn the general filter types: High-pass, Low-pass.
(2) Learn to alter filter type by changing contacts for output voltage.
(3) Learn phase angle at cutoff for simple RC and RL filters.
(4) Design simple filter.
(5) Frequency response (amplitude and phase).
EXPERIMENTAL OBJECTIVES:
(1) Calculate and measure cutoff frequency for series RC and RL filters.
(2) Design simple RC low-pass& high pass filter.
(3)Design simple RL low-pass& high pass filter.
(4) Bode plots for series filters.

EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS

❖ Digital Function Generator
❖ Digital Oscilloscope with Probes.
❖ Bread Board
❖ Capacitors
❖ Inductors
❖ Resistors
Background:
Frequency Response

The frequency response of a circuit is the variation in its behavior with change in signal
frequency.

Transfer Function

The transfer function 𝐻(𝜔) of a circuit is the frequency dependent ratio of a phasor output y
(𝜔) (an element voltage or current) to a phasor input X (𝜔) (source voltage or current).

𝑌(𝜔)
𝐻(𝜔) =
𝑋(𝜔)

Bode Plots

Bode plots are semi-log plots of the magnitude (in decibels) and phase (in degrees) of a
transfer function versus frequency.

Cutoff Frequency

The frequency at which gain becomes 0.707 times of the maximum gain is called cutoff
frequency. It is also called the half power frequency because at this frequency the average
power delivered by the circuit is one half the maximum average power.
|𝐻(𝜔𝐶 )| = 0.707 |𝐻(𝜔)|𝑀𝐴𝑋

𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑃(𝜔𝑐 ) =
2
Filter: A filter is a circuit that is designed to pass signals with desired frequencies and
reject or attenuate others.

Passive Filters: Elements used in passive filters are resistors, capacitors and inductors.
The gain of passive filters is unity.

Low Pass Filter: A low pass filter passes low frequencies and rejects high frequencies.

Bode Plot for First-Order Low Pass Filter

Phase Bode Plot for First-Order Low Pass Filter

High Pass Filter
A high pass filter passes high frequencies and rejects low frequencies.

Phase Bode Plot for First-Order High Pass Filter

 In-Lab Tasks
Task 1: Design of RC Low Pass & High Pass Filters:
1) Design RC low pass & high pass filter circuit with cutoff frequency of 5KHZ. (Make
sure that designed values are available in Lab; otherwise choose different value of
cutoff frequency)
2) Built the designed filter and test it.
3) Plot the frequency response: (a) magnitude response (b) phase response
4) Analyze your designed filter against the required specifications and write a report.

Task 1: Passive RC Low Pass Filter

SR.NO Measured

Frequency (KHz) 𝛚 (𝐫𝐚𝐝/𝐬) Vo calculated Vo simulated.

H(ω)

0.5fc = 10K 62.831k 0.895 4.475 4.471

fc = 20K 125.66k 0.707 3.535 3.535
2fc = 40K 251.37k 0.447 2.23 2.23
251.32KTable 1 (RC Low Pass Filter)
LAB CALCULATIONS:
Task 2: Passive RC High Pass Filter

Measured

Frequency (KHz) 𝛚 (𝐫𝐚𝐝/𝐬) Vo calculated Vo simulated.

H(ω)

0.5fc = 10K 62.831k 0.895 4.475 4.471

fc = 20K 125.66k 0.707 3.535 3.535
2fc = 40K 251.37k 0.447 2.23 2.23
251.32K
Table 2 (RC High Pass Filter)
Task 2: Design of RL Low Pass & High Pass Filters:
1) Design RL low pass & high pass filter circuit with cutoff frequency of 5KHZ.
2) Repeat steps 2 to 4 of Task 1.

Task 2.1: Passive RL Low Pass Filter

Measured

Frequency (KHz) 𝝎 (𝒓𝒂𝒅/𝒔) H(w) Vo calculated Vo simulated.

0.5fc = 10K 15700 3.6 4.8 4.8

Fc = 20K 31.4K 3.2 4.5 4.5
2fc = 40K 62.8K 2.3 3.6 3.7

Table 3 (RL Low Pass Filter)

Task 2: Passive RL High Pass Filter

Measured

Frequency (KHz) 𝝎 (𝒓𝒂𝒅/𝒔) H(w) Vo calculated Vo simulated.

0.5fc = 10K 15700 2.6 3.8 3.8

Fc = 20K 31.4K 3.5 4.2 4.2
2fc = 40K 62.8K 2.3 3.6 3.7
Table 4 (RL High Pass Filter)
Appendix A (RC Low Pass Filter)
1⁄
𝑗𝜔𝐶
From the circuit diagram, 𝑉𝑜 is given by 𝑉𝑜 = 𝑅+1 𝑉𝑖𝑛
⁄𝑗𝜔𝐶

𝑉𝑜 1
=
𝑉𝑖𝑛 1 + 𝑗𝜔𝑅𝐶

𝑉𝑜
As we know that = 𝐻(𝜔)
𝑉𝑖𝑛

1
𝐻(𝜔) = −−−−−−−−−−
1 + 𝑗𝜔𝑅𝐶
− −(1)

1
|𝐻(𝜔)| =
√1 + (𝜔𝑅𝐶) 2
1
At 𝜔 = 𝜔𝑐 |𝐻(𝜔)| = 0.707 ↔ 0.707 =
√1+(𝜔 𝑅𝐶) 2
𝑐

1
0.7072 =
1 + (𝜔𝑐 𝑅𝐶)2
1
0.5 =
1 + (𝜔𝑐 𝑅𝐶)2
0.5 + 0.5(𝜔𝑐 𝑅𝐶)2 = 1

0.5(𝜔𝑐 𝑅𝐶)2 = 1 − 0.5

0.5
(𝜔𝑐 𝑅𝐶)2 =
0.5

(𝜔𝑐 𝑅𝐶)2 = 1

1
𝜔𝑐 2 =
(𝑅𝐶)2
1
𝜔𝑐 = − − − − − − − − − − − − − (2)
𝑅𝐶
1
𝑓𝑐 =
2𝜋𝑅𝐶
Appendix B (RC High Pass Filter)
From the circuit diagram, 𝑉𝑜 is given by.

𝑅
𝑉𝑜 = 𝑉𝑖𝑛
𝑅 + 1⁄𝑗𝜔𝐶

𝑉𝑜 1
=
𝑉𝑖𝑛 1 + 1⁄
𝑗𝜔𝑅𝐶
𝑉𝑜
As we know that = 𝐻(𝜔)
𝑉𝑖𝑛

1
𝐻(𝜔) = − − − − − − − − − −(5)
1
1 + ⁄𝑗𝜔𝑅𝐶

1
|𝐻(𝜔)| =
√1 + 1⁄(𝜔𝑅𝐶) 2

At 𝜔 = 𝜔𝑐 |𝐻(𝜔)| = 0.707

1
0.707 =
√1 + 1⁄(𝜔 𝑅𝐶) 2
𝑐

1
Squaring both sides 0.7072 = 2
1+1⁄(𝜔 𝑅𝐶)
𝑐

1
0.5 =
1 + 1⁄(𝜔 𝑅𝐶) 2
𝑐

0.5 [1 + 1⁄(𝜔 𝑅𝐶) 2 ] = 1

𝑐

0.5 + 0.5⁄(𝜔 𝑅𝐶)2 = 1

𝑐

0.5⁄
(𝜔𝑐 𝑅𝐶)2 = 1 − 0.5

0.5
(𝜔𝑐 𝑅𝐶)2 =
0.5
(𝜔𝑐 𝑅𝐶)2 = 1
 1
𝜔𝑐 2 =
(𝑅𝐶)2

1
𝜔𝑐 =
𝑅𝐶
1
𝑓𝑐 =
2𝜋𝑅𝐶
𝐿
Appendix C (RL Low Pass Filter)
From the circuit diagram, 𝑉𝑜is given by
𝑅

𝑅
𝑉𝑜 = 𝑉
𝑅 + 𝑗𝜔𝐿 𝑖𝑛

𝑉𝑜 𝑅
=
𝑉𝑖𝑛 𝑅(1 + 𝑗𝜔𝐿⁄ )
𝑅
As we know that

𝑉𝑜
= 𝐻(𝜔)
𝑉𝑖𝑛

1
𝐻(𝜔) =
𝑗𝜔𝐿⁄
1+ 𝑅
1
|𝐻(𝜔)| =
√1 + (𝜔𝐿⁄𝑅 ) 2

At 𝜔 = 𝜔𝑐 |𝐻(𝜔)| = 0.707

1
0.707 =
√1 + (𝜔𝑐 𝐿⁄𝑅 ) 2

1
0.7072 = 𝜔𝑐 𝐿⁄ 2
1+( 𝑅)

1
0.5 =
𝜔𝑐 𝐿⁄ 2
1+( 𝑅)

𝜔𝑐 𝐿⁄ 2
0.5 + 0.5 ( 𝑅) = 1
 𝜔𝑐 𝐿⁄ 2
0.5 ( 𝑅 ) = 1 − 0.5

𝜔𝑐 𝐿⁄ 2 0.5
( 𝑅 ) = 0.5

𝜔𝑐 𝐿⁄ 2
( 𝑅) = 1

𝑅2
𝜔𝑐 2 =
𝐿2
𝑅
𝜔𝑐 =
𝐿

𝑅
𝑓c = 𝑅
2𝜋𝐿

Appendix D (RL High Pass Filter)

From the circuit diagram, 𝑉𝑜is given by 𝐿

𝑗𝜔𝐿
𝑉𝑜 = 𝑉
𝑅 + 𝑗𝜔𝐿 𝑖𝑛

𝑉𝑜 𝑗𝜔𝐿
=
𝑉𝑖𝑛 𝑗𝜔𝐿 (𝑅⁄
𝑗𝜔𝐿 + 1)

As we know that

𝑉𝑜
= 𝐻(𝜔)
𝑉𝑖𝑛

1
𝐻(𝜔) =
𝑅
1 + ⁄𝑗𝜔𝐿

1
|𝐻(𝜔)| =
√1 + (𝑅⁄ ) 2
𝜔𝐿

At 𝜔 = 𝜔𝑐 |𝐻(𝜔)| = 0.707

1
0.707 =
2
√1 + (𝑅⁄
𝜔𝑐 𝐿)

1
0.7072 = 2
1+(𝑅⁄𝜔 𝐿)
𝑐

1
0.5 = 2
1+(𝑅⁄𝜔 𝐿)
𝑐

2
0.5 + 0.5 (𝑅⁄𝜔 𝐿) = 1
𝑐

2
0.5 (𝑅⁄𝜔 𝐿) = 1 − 0.5
𝑐
 Post Lab

1) Why are capacitors preferred over inductors in filter design?

Filters suppress electromagnetic interference in two basic ways. The

capacitive elements shunt the interference to ground and the inductive
elements raise the impedance of the line, making the shunt capacitors even
more effective. The response of a capacitive low-pass filter falls off with
increasing frequency. However, despite their increased complexity,
capacitive filter designs are generally preferred over inductive
because capacitors tend to be “purer” reactive components
than inductors and therefore are more predictable in their behavior.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
In this lab I had learnt about low pass and high pass (passive) RC and RL filters, and I
observed the frequency response of first order passive filters in this lab. The low pass
filter only allowed signals to pass below its cut-off frequency point, ƒc, the passive high
pass filter only passes signals above the selected cut-off point, ƒc eliminating any low
frequency signals from the waveform. A High Pass Filter is the exact opposite to the low
pass filter. This filter has no output voltage from DC (0Hz), up to a specified cut-off
frequency (ƒc) point. While the Low Pass Filter has a constant output voltage from D.C.
(0Hz), up to a specified Cut-off frequency, (ƒC) point.