Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other is labelled as Reason (R). Assertion (A): In a practical center-tap full-wave rectifier circuit using silicon diodes, the load current is continuous and never drops to zero at any instant during the AC cycle. Reason (R): Silicon diodes require a minimum forward bias voltage (cut-in voltage) of about 0.7 V to conduct, so neither diode condu

Step-by-step solution

The Reason is a correct statement. Practical silicon diodes have a barrier potential (cut-in voltage) of approximately 0.7 V . They do not conduct until the applied forward bias voltage exceeds this value. Because the input AC voltage continuously varies and passes through zero, there is a short time interval around every zero-crossing where the magnitude of the voltage across each half of the secondary coil is less than 0.7 V . During these intervals, neither diode D₁ nor D₂ is sufficiently forward-biased to condu