General exam question G7A07
Subelement G7, PRACTICAL CIRCUITS· Group G7A
What is the output waveform of an unfiltered full-wave rectifier connected to a resistive load?
- A.A series of DC pulses at twice the frequency of the AC input (correct answer)
- B.A series of DC pulses at the same frequency as the AC input
- C.A sine wave at half the frequency of the AC input
- D.A steady DC voltage
WhyAn unfiltered full-wave rectifier connected to a resistive load produces a series of DC pulses at twice the frequency of the AC input. A full-wave rectifier flips the negative half-cycle of the input right-side up along with the positive half-cycle, so its unfiltered output is a train of DC pulses occurring twice for every cycle of the AC input, answer A. It isn't at the same frequency as the input (that describes a half-wave rectifier), isn't at half the input frequency, and definitely isn't a steady DC voltage until filtering smooths those pulses out.
Published 2026-08-28 · Last updated 2026-08-28 · Question text is verbatim from the 2023-2027 NCVEC Element 3 pool (public domain); the explanation above is original writing, see our methodology.
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