🌘 Full-Wave Rectifier

📖 The Physics

A full-wave (bridge) rectifier uses four diodes arranged so that both halves of the AC cycle are steered the same way through the load. The negative halves are effectively flipped up.

So nothing is wasted and the output is twice as smooth as a half-wave one — its average DC is double the half-wave value.

Switch the smoothing capacitor on: it charges to the peak and discharges slowly between humps (yellow line), filling the dips to give an almost flat DC — this is how a phone charger makes steady DC from mains.