Low Pass Filter

Lab Report

Wentworth Institute of Technology | 11/14/14

ELEC 320-03
Andrews, David L.

A test structure for the

effect of changing
resistance within a low
pass filter circuit

Abstract:
The objective of the Low pass filter lab is to test the effect of changing the
resistance in a low pass filter circuit. A low pass filter circuit, consisting of one resistor
and one capacitor is created and tested. The Frequency of the electronic signal is then
swept while the Amplitude is measured to capture any affects.

Introduction:
A low pass filter is an electronic circuit which attenuates and input signals which
are above a certain cutoff frequency. These filters are often used in audio applications,
also known as a treble cut filter. Here we test how the resistor in a low pass filter affects.

Experimental Procedure
Set Up:
1. Using a split alligator wire, hook up a waveform generator to the positive and
negative terminals of the shown circuit.
2. Attach the multi-meter positive terminal in between the resistor and capacitor,
as well as its negative terminal to the ground.
Procedure:
1. Using the given Frequency Sweep labview program, sweep the frequency of the
input signal from 10 to 100000 Hz
2. At a certain point on the generated graph will be a vertical red line. Record the x
position of this line as the experimental cutoff frequency

Illustration of set up:

Shown below is the circuit used for this experiment. The generated wave
from travels from the left hand red alligator clip, through the resistor, past the
positive DMM connection, through the capacitor, and to ground.

Capacitor
Resistor

Results
For this experiment, four different resistors are used; red, green
yellow and blue. Shown below are the voltage sweep graphs for each of the
LEDs listed. The Y-axis is amplitude, X-axis is frequency (Hz, Log scale)
Trial 1: 470 Ohm Resistance

Trial 3: 1000 Ohm Resistance

Trial 2: 4700 Ohm Resistance

Trial 4: 10000 Ohm Resistance

Trial Resistance Capacitence

fc (Hz)
#
(ohms)
(farads)
Theoretical
1
2
3
4

470.00
1000.00
4700.00
10000.00

0.000001
0.000001
0.000001
0.000001

338.63
159.15
33.86
15.92

fc (Hz) Actual
Log
Scale
3.40
3.00
2.26
2.05

Normal
Scale
2511.9
1000.0
182.0
112.2

Discussion
Low-Pass Filters, also able to be thought of as high-cut filters, allow signals up to
a certain frequency to pass through unaffected. This point is called the cutoff frequency;
any signal above this frequency is attenuated in amplitude as it passes through.
As displayed by the above four graphs and table, the cutoff frequency can be
altered by changing the resistance in the circuit. The red line within each graph
designates the cutoff frequency; notice how the line moves further left when a higher
resistance is applied. The same affect is easy to see within the above table.

10k

1F

The frequency sweep controller interface created in labview is shown below.

Conclusion
The behavior of low pass filters is useful in applications requiring filtration of a
signal, often in digital and audio uses. In digital applications the filter can be used to
smooth sets of data, as well as in analog to digital conversion. For audio applications,
the low pass filter is used to smooth out audio signals.
The results of this trial confirm the effect of changing a low pass circuits
resistance. Both the calculated and experimental cutoff frequencies show the same trend
as the resistance changes.