Q.Draw the circuit diagram of a half wave rectifier and explain its working

Step 1 (Circuit). The half wave rectifier circuit consists of a transformer feeding an AC signal across terminals A and B on its secondary, a single p-n junction diode connected in series, and a load resistor $R_L$ across which the output is taken.

Step 2 (Positive half cycle). When terminal A is positive with respect to B, the diode is forward biased and conducts; current flows through $R_L$, and the output voltage across it follows the shape of the input's positive half.

Step 3 (Negative half cycle). When terminal A is negative with respect to B, the diode is reverse biased and does not conduct (the tiny reverse saturation current is negligible); no current flows through $R_L$, so the negative half of the input is suppressed entirely at the output.

Step 4 (Result). Because only one half of the input wave ever reaches the output, this is a half wave rectifier; the resulting output waveform is a series of one-directional humps with flat gaps between them -- not steady DC, but pulsating -- with an efficiency (ratio of output DC power to input AC power) of 40.6%. Reversing the diode's orientation would instead pass the negative half and block the positive half.

Trace conduction on the forward half-cycle and blocking on the reverse half-cycle to build the pulsating output.

• Forgetting to state that the output is pulsating DC, not steady DC.
• Reversing which half-cycle the diode conducts on relative to its drawn orientation.