What is Ripple: Definition and 71 Discussions

Ripple (specifically ripple voltage) in electronics is the residual periodic variation of the DC voltage within a power supply which has been derived from an alternating current (AC) source. This ripple is due to incomplete suppression of the alternating waveform after rectification. Ripple voltage originates as the output of a rectifier or from generation and commutation of DC power.
Ripple (specifically ripple current or surge current) may also refer to the pulsed current consumption of non-linear devices like capacitor-input rectifiers.
As well as these time-varying phenomena, there is a frequency domain ripple that arises in some classes of filter and other signal processing networks. In this case the periodic variation is a variation in the insertion loss of the network against increasing frequency. The variation may not be strictly linearly periodic. In this meaning also, ripple is usually to be considered an incidental effect, its existence being a compromise between the amount of ripple and other design parameters.
Ripple is wasted power, and has many undesirable effects in a DC circuit: it heats components, causes noise and distortion, and may cause digital circuits to operate improperly. Ripple may be reduced by an electronic filter, and eliminated by a voltage regulator.

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  1. C

    Amplitude of a circular ripple at distance r from source

    For this problem, The solution is, Does anybody please know another way to solve this problem? EDIT: Why do they assume that no energy is absorbed by the water? Many thanks!
  2. A

    Choosing pulse capacitor for parasitic AC ripple suppresion

    So long story short I have a power supply (DIY) for some time and on the secondary side filter/reservoir capacitors there is a small ripple (about 1v PP) of 50khz (the switching frequency of the PSU). Aside from others methods that I will implement to reduce this I am thinking of adding a shunt...
  3. C

    Sources of voltage ripple in buck converter

    I am reading a book 'Fundamentals of Power Electronics' - Erickson. The book begins with a buck converter and the assumptions that we use so that we do not have to deal with 2nd order equations. I will first explain what the book says What the book says? The book says that the LC filter of a...
  4. kaiiliana

    Changing capacitance effect on ripple in full rectification circuit

    [Mentor Note -- thread moved to the schoolwork forums] Hi. So I'm a Physics HL student in IB and I'm designing a circuit for my Physics IA. (think of it as a lab/project if you're not familiar with IB) I'm required to have an independent variable of 7 dif. values and a dependant variable. For...
  5. V

    DC-DC conv. Ripple affecting Speech Recognition - Capacitance multiplier

    Into a project I am working is use 12Vdc SMPS to power an audio amplifier and some more components. We have no “noise” on that stage. Then I use a step down converter to convert the 12V to 5V and power a mic preamplifier (Respeaker – usb Mic array) and a development board. There is a lot of...
  6. matthieu1973

    Designing a ripple low PS for DDS function generator

    Hello to all. I am trying to design a ripple free (read as ripple free as possible) power supply (PS) for my DIY DDS function generator. I am (was) in the possession of the hyland 5v to 12v PS which wrecked due to a stupid action on my side, my bad. so i was going to repair it, but i found that...
  7. brainbaby

    Measuring ripple reduction in LTSpice

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  8. neilparker62

    Ripple Pattern on Martian surface

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  9. V

    B Ripple Tank Refraction: Frequency Effect on Angle & Speed?

    Consider water waves refraction in a ripple tank. What happen if we increased the ripple frequency. I mean the refraction angle would change or not? Also, propagation speed will change or not? I had seen a photograph in PSSC Physics. According to that, the refraction angle was reducing if we...
  10. H

    How much ripple voltage for an LED is noticable?

    Hi! Question about LED power supplies. They all have marked ripple voltage. Typically 150mV. How much ripple voltage is human eye capable of noticing when looking at LED strips? And is there difference between 12V and 24V? I have opinion that 150mV ripple on 24V LED strip would give the same...
  11. G

    Non-constant wave velocity in a ripple tank system

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  12. J

    Ripple frequency of three phase half bridge converter

    Homework Statement Homework Equations Three phase half controlled bridge rectifier can have 3 pules at output or 6 pulses depending on firing angle. The Attempt at a Solution Ripple frequency is m times the input frequency where m is number of pulses. It can be 3 or 6. So why have they...
  13. J

    Coupled inductor boost converter - Ripple current

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  14. queenmurr

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  15. R

    Solving Voltage Ripple Formula: Get the Right Answer!

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  16. D

    Alternate derivation of output capacitor ripple voltage buck

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  17. Arget

    Double slit diffraction ripple

    Consider diffraction in a ripple tank from two narrow slits. Answer true (T) or false (F) for each of the following statements. E.g., if the first statement is true and the rest false, enter TFFF. You have 6 tries. If the frequency of the wave source is halved, then the angle between the...
  18. K

    B Are massive gravitons what ripple when galaxies collide?

    Is a sea of massive gravitons what ripples when galaxy clusters collide? Accepted at APS Physical Review D: https://journals.aps.org/prd/accepted/8b07dQ8dFbd1051b06704364802ee6ba42eea6f5e Precursor: Bigravitons as dark matter and gravitational waves We consider the possibility that the...
  19. G

    The peak-to-peak ripple voltage

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  20. ifan davies

    Determine: The r.m.s. ripple voltage

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  21. I

    Full Wave Rectifier - Capacitor Filter and Output Ripple

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  22. ToonBlue

    Determine the output voltage ripple

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  23. V

    Ripple tank - strobe frequency

    Homework Statement Say we are observing plane wave patterns on table. The depth of water is the same everywhere in ripple tank. The frequency of waves is 12 Hz and wave length is L (lamda). We see the wave pattern as stationer while looking at wave pattern through the slots of stroboscope which...
  24. P

    Testing the reduction of input to output ripple of MC7805

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  25. D

    Exploring the Ripple Effect: The Mystery of 3D Shapes

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  26. Q

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  27. X

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  28. W

    Finding the Ripple Factor for a Half Wave Rectifier

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  29. P

    Ripple factor in half wave rectification diode

    Please Help. I am not getting the concept of ripple factor in half wave rectification with the help of diode.The derivation done by our lecturer is not clear.Someone please explain the concept and its derivation. Also it seems from the derivation given by our lecturer that there are two types...
  30. T

    Why ripple effect doesn't happen on air as it does on water?

    Hi everyone, I am wondering why a single disturbance can cause ripple on water surface but the same is not true when sound wave is made. When air is disturbed, only one pulse is made in one time. What set the difference? Thanks in advance.
  31. S

    Boost converter - ripple current

    Whilst looking at the possible parts for a boost converter I came across references to making sure that the capacitor could handle the "ripple current". I looked a bit further and can see 2 possibilities. 1) The ripple in the capacitor current itself ie the difference between the minimum and...
  32. R

    How to measure ripple voltage on CRO

    can we measure ripple factor using same? again what is difference between ripple, ripple voltage and ripple factor?
  33. N

    What is the difference between these two formula of ripple voltage

    I found 2 equation for calculating the peak to peak ripple voltage, this one is the common one i see, Vripple p-p = I / 2fCAnd i also see this one in my book, but can't really find any other source use this formula, Vripple p-p = Vrect / fRLC Vrect is the peak voltage of unfiltered voltage...
  34. M

    Could the universe be a big ripple?

    So two of the theories of the universe are the big rip and the big crunch or bounce. Big crunch being expansion of the universe stops, then the universe implodes on itself creating another big bang in a series of bounces going from expansion to contraction. The big rip theory (the most popular)...
  35. M

    Can the fabric of space ripple like a gentle wave in the ocean?

    Can the fabric of space ripple like a gentle wave in the ocean?
  36. E

    Wave produced in a ripple tank appear to stand still at 66.7Hz?

    For an experiment involving a ripple tank and a wave monitor, the frequency was changed from 10Hz to 100Hz and it was found that at precisely 66.7Hz, the wave produced appeared (to the viewer) to be standing still. At any value below 66.7 Hz the wave moved inwards, and at any value above 66.7Hz...
  37. S

    Calculating total energy carried by a ripple

    Homework Statement A two-dimensional water wave spreads in circular ripples. Show that the amplitude A at a distance R from the initial disturbance is proportional to 1/\sqrt{R} Hint: Consider the energy carried by one outward moving ripple Homework Equations Kinetic energy carried by...
  38. T

    8-Bit Ripple Carry Multiplier using 4-Bit Adders

    Hey Everyone, I want to design an 8-bit Multiplier, using 4-bit Adders. I created a Ripple Carry Multiplier using 16 4-bit adders, but after debugging realized it doesn't work. I got this schematic off of a 4-bit multiplier i saw online, but can't find the link to it anymore. Here is the...
  39. D

    A way to ripple the fabric of space?

    So i was sitting in Algebra the other day, day-dreaming when i thought of something: I know gravity exists because all objects have mass that bend space causing a trampoline effect and pull objects towards them. So, what happens if you have something that has extreme mass (say a large star)...
  40. JJBladester

    Ripple Voltage Derivation (Full-Wave Rectifier)

    Homework Statement Derive the ripple voltage of a full-wave rectifier with a capacitor-input filter. Homework Equations Where V_{r(pp)} is the peak-to-peak ripple voltage and V_{DC} is the dc (average) value of the filter's output voltage. And V_{p(rect)} is the unfiltered peak rectified...
  41. R

    Ripple Current in Aged Brushed DC Motors

    I work as an engineer and I've been looking for an explanation for something that I have been puzzled by. Physics background of problem: In brushed DC motors, electrical coils (poles) rotate as the motor moves. A change in inductance as they move makes small variations in motor current...
  42. R

    How to start a binary ripple counter from the middle?

    I needed to make a ripple counter start from 3 and end at 17. I got it to reset to 0 when it reaches 17, but I can't get it to start from 3. I am using 5 JK latches with LEDS attached to the outputs of each to represent each number. To get it to stop at 17, I nanded the msb and lsb and...
  43. S

    Ripple Tank, Double Slit: Waves

    Homework Statement A double-slit interference experiment is done in a ripple tank (a water tank using a vibrating rod to produce a plane wave on the surface of the water). The slits are 6.00 cm apart, and a viewing screen is 2.15 m from the slits. The wave speed of the ripples in water is...
  44. C

    3 phase high current ripple suppression

    I am building an on-board generator for a small aircraft (AUW = ~ 10kg). The fuel motor is rated at 1.8 kW and it directly drives a 3 phase AC motor. The rpm will be regulated at roughly 8k so I think the frequency of the AC output will be around 133 Hz. The AC motor produces 1 volt per 260 RPM...
  45. S

    Formulating Ripple Equation for 2D Symmetry

    I want to formulate an approx 2D ripple equation μ(x,y). It should satisfy following: 1) it should have highest amplitude on y-axis at x=0. It should be symmetrical about y axis. It should fade away at some x on both positive and negetive x-axis symmetrically. Fading in a way of decreasing...
  46. N

    Full Wave Rectifier, Ripple Voltage?

    Homework Statement Full Wave Bridge Rectifier circuit Basically this circuit, but ZL is r//c not simply r as it is in this circuit (also, disregard any values... just the model is relevant) Vs=6.5cost(2pi60t) CL=1μF RL=500Ω I'm trying to find Vmax and Vripple. Homework...
  47. I

    Formula for ripple factor in filter circuits

    i have come across two different formulas for ripple factor: One is r= (Vrpp/Vdc), where Vdc is the dc voltage of the output and Vrpp is the peak to peak ripple voltage. My professor uses this formula and I have also seen it being used in basic electronics by Floyd Another one is r= Vrms/Vdc...
  48. K

    What could be causing the periodic voltage drop in my LCD projector's output?

    Hi there, I'm measuring the voltage on the output of an amplified photodiode circuit that is capturing light emitted by an Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) projector and there is a periodic voltage drop which I don't know the reason. The projector is projecting an all-white image. I've been...
  49. J

    What is ripple factor in halfwave rectifier?

    Well rms current in AC is I / √2 and average current in DC is I /π ( in half wave) ripple factor is rms current in AC divided by average current in DC which according to me is 2.2. But value given is 1.21 everywhere Is my formula wrong. Have i misunderstood ripple factor?
  50. S

    Charge Pumps -Query - Ripple Vs Switching Frequency

    Hi Folks, I tried designing a Dickson's charge pump. Here are the below observations: For a voltage doubler: When W=240nm, charge pump capacitance= load capacitance= 1p F, load resistance= 10M ohm, Switching frequency=500k Hz, Vin=2V Results: Vout= 4.3772V, settling time= 50u s...
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