Bridge Rectifier Calculator
Enter your AC input RMS voltage and diode forward voltage drop to calculate the average DC output voltage of a full-wave bridge rectifier.
How a bridge rectifier works
A full-wave bridge rectifier uses four diodes arranged so that both halves of an AC waveform are converted into pulsing DC, rather than only conducting on every other half-cycle like a simple half-wave rectifier.
The formula
The AC peak voltage is Vpeak = VRMS × √2. The average (mean) output of a full-wave rectified sine wave is (2/π) × Vpeak, and since current passes through two diodes in series at any instant in a bridge configuration, two diode voltage drops are subtracted: VDC(avg) = (2Vpeak ÷ π) − 2Vdiode.
This gives the unfiltered rectifier output; adding a smoothing capacitor after the bridge raises the average output closer to the peak voltage and reduces ripple. This calculator is for general electronics education.