Experiment No.

9 555 timer and its Applications

Aim: To design and study the 555 timer in astable and monostable modes
To study the application of 555 timer as FS generator and pulse !idth
modulator
E"uipments and components re"uired: 555 timer# resistors# capacitors# breadboard#
function generator# $%&. 'o!er supply
Theory:
ASTA()E *+)T,-,(%AT&%
Figure shows the circuit diagram of a 555 Timer connected in Astable Mode. The pin number 8
and 4
th
pin are shorted and given to power supply. The reset pin is connected to power supply to
avoid accidental resets. The pin number 1 is grounded. ince the control pin !5" is not used it is
grounded through #.#1 $F to avoid high fre%uency noises. A resistance
A
R is connected between
reset and discharge pins and resistance
B
R is connected between the pins discharge and
threshold. ince no e&ternal trigger is re%uired the trigger pin is connected to threshold and a
capacitor which determines the output of the timer is connected to threshold pin. The other end of
the capacitor is grounded. .. ince the 'ontrol (oltage pin !pin 5" is not used the comparator
reference voltages will be )*+ (cc and 1*+ (cc respectively. o the output of the 555 will set
!goes high" when the capacitor voltage goes below 1*+ (cc and output will reset !goes low" when
the capacitor voltage goes above )*+ (cc
Figure shows the circuit diagram of a 555 Timer wired in Astable Mode. 8th pin and 1st pin of the
,' are used to give power- (cc and ./0 respectively. The 4th pin is 122T pin which is active
low and is connected to (cc to avoid accidental resets. 5th pin is the 'ontrol (oltage pin which is
not used. o to avoid high fre%uency noises it is connected to a capacitor '3 whose other end is
connected to ground. 4sually '3 5 #.#1$F. The Trigger !pin )" and Threshold !pin 6" inputs are
connected to the capacitor which determines the output of the timer. 0ischarge pin !pin 7" is
connected to the resistor
B
R such that the capacitor can discharge through 1b. 0iode 0
connected in parallel to
B
R is only used when an output of duty cycle less than or e%ual to 5#8
is re%uired. For the sa9e of e&plaing the wor9ing 'ircuit 0iagram with ,nternal :loc9 diagram is
shown below. ince the 'ontrol (oltage !pin 5" is not used the comparator reference voltages will
be )*+ (cc and 1*+ (cc respectively. o the output of the 555 will goes high when the capacitor
voltage goes below 1*+ (cc and output will goes low when the capacitor voltage goes above )*+
(cc
;hen the circuit is switched </- the capacitor !'" voltage will be less than 1*+ (cc. o the
output of the lower comparator will be =,.= and of the higher comparator will be ><;. This
2Ts the output ? of the 1 Flip@flop. ince the output Q5#- the transistor ?1 will be off and
the capacitor starts charging to supply voltage through resistors
A
R and
B
R . ;hen the
capacitor voltage will become greater than 1*+ (cc ! less than )*+ (cc " the output of both
comparators is Aero and the 1 flip@flop maintains the previous condition.. This enable the
capacitor to charge. ;hen the capacitor voltage becomes slightly greater than )*+ (cc the output
of upper comparator becomes high which resets the flip flop. As a result Q becomes high and
the transistor starts conducting. /ow the capacitor starts discharging. ince the voltage across
capacitor is less than )*+ (cc and greater than 1*+ (cc . the output of both comparators is Aero.
=ence the @1 flip@flop continues in the previous state. This enable the capacitor to discharge
through the resistance
B
R ;hen the capacitor voltage becomes less than 1*+ (cc- the output
2Ts since the output of lower comparator is =,.= and of higher comparator is ><; and the
capacitor starts charging again. This process continuous and a rectangular wave will be obtained
at the output. The output waveform and voltage across capacitor are s9etched as shown in Fig.
The time period of the rectangular waveform is e%ual to the sum of charging and discharging time
of the capacitor. >et the charging time of capacitor is
c
t and the discharging time of the capacitor
is
d
t . Then
c d
T t t = +
0uring charging time the initial voltage across capacitor is * +
cc
V . The capacitor starts charging
to applied voltage
cc
V through
A B
R R + . :ut at time
c
t where the voltage across capacitor is
e%ual to ) * +
cc
V the change of state occurs.
0uring charging the voltage across capacitor is given by
( )
*
!1"
B
+
)
+
t RC
c f i f
CC
i f CC
CC
c c
V V V V e
V
V V V
V
V at t t

= +
= =
= =

( )
*! "
*! "
1
)
+ +
)
+ +
#.6C+! "
c A B
c A B
t R R C CC CC
CC CC
t R R C CC CC
c A B
Substituting the value in the above equation
V V
V V e
V V
e
t R R C
+
+

= +


=
= +
imilarly during discharging time the initial voltage across capacitor is ) * +
cc
V . The capacitor
starts discharging to Aero voltage through
B
R . :ut at time
d
t where the voltage across capacitor
is e%ual to * +
cc
V the change of state occurs
1##8 1##8
1##8
)
c on d off
c on
A B
A B
if t T and t T
t T
Duty cycle
T T
R R
R R
= =
= =
+
=
+
( )
*! "
*! "
1
)
# #
+ +
)
+ +
#.6C+! "
d B
d B
t R C CC CC
t R C CC CC
d B
Substituting the value in the above equation
V V
e
V V
e
t R C

= +


=
=
c d
T t t = +
#.6C+! " #.6C+
#.6C+! ) "
1 1 1.44
#.6C+! ) " ! ) "
A B B
A B
A B A B
T R R C R C
R R C
f
T R R C R R C
= + +
= +
= = =
+ +
The duty cycle is given by
1##8 1##8
1##8
)
c on d off
c on
A B
A B
if t T and t T
t T
Duty cycle
T T
R R
R R
= =
= =
+
=
+
.esign:
0esign an astable multivibrator that generates a rectangular waveform of 1 D=A fre%uency with
6#8 duty cycle.
.iven 056#8
1##8 6#8
)
#.6
)
)
A B
A B
A B
A B
B A
R R
D
R R
R R
R R
R R
+
= =
+
+
=
+
=
1.44
1
! ) "
1.44
1
!5 "
#.1
A B
A
f KHz
R R C
KHz
R C
let C f
= =
+
=
=
Then
).88 - 5.76
A B
R k R k = =

'rocedure:
1. 0esign the astable multivibrator circuit for the given fre%uency and duty cycle
). Elace 555 timer on the bread board and 'onnect e&ternal component as per the circuit
diagram.
+. Apply power supply and chec9 the output and voltage across capacitor
4. Find the duty cycle and fre%uency of the wave form
5. 'ompare with theoretical values
6. plot the output and voltage across capacitor on graph sheet
FS generator
/oteF replace 5#D with variable resistors
Frequency Shift Keying plays a great role in wide range of applications in the field of
communication and was considered efficient one in data transmission of wireless
modems.This above circuit uses a simple IC N!!! in order to produce FSK signal with
respect to the given input signal.In this circuit it was wired as a simple "stable multivibrator
and in addition a transistor was connected through which input signal was given into the
base of the transistor.The resistors #a$#b and C determines the frequency of the FSK
modulated signal in the astable mode of operation. "lso chec% out the matching FSK
&emodulator using IC !'! circuit. (ets move into the wor%ing of this circuit.
WORKING OF CIRCUIT:
The output frequency of the signal was based on the input digital signal given to the base of
the transistor.)hen the given input was high that is of logic * the +N+ transistor was , is off
and IC !!! timer wor%s in the normal "stable mode of operation giving out the series of
square wave pulses thus there will be no change in the frequency of the output signal.-ere
the resistors #a$ #b and Capacitor C was selected in such a way to obtain output frequency
of *./.-0.The output frequency when the input was high was given by the equation

f1 *.2!34#a 5 #b6C
)hen the input binary data if logic .$ the +N+ transistor is on and its connects the resistance
#c across resistance #a.The resistors #c is selected in such a way that the value of
*7/.-0.-ere the value of #c added in addition to the #a$ #b and C to contribute the wor%ing
of the N!!!.This ma%es the charging and discharging quic%er resulting in high frequency
waves as output.The #a$ #b$ #c and C values was selected in such a way to obtain output
frequency of *7/. -0.This was given by the equation

f1*.2!344#a 88 #c65 7#b6C
Thus the resultant output FSK will give frequency of *./.-0 when input is high and
frequency of *7/. when input is low.Thus by this way the FSK signal was obtained using
N!!!.
'rocedure:
1. Elace 555 timer on the bread board and 'onnect e&ternal component as per the circuit
diagram.
). Apply power supply.
+.Apply logic # at input and chec9 the output. Measure the fre%uency
4. 'onnect logic 1 at input and chec9 the output. Measure the fre%uency.
4. Apply a s%uare wave at input and note down the output wave form
*&N&STA()E *+)T,-,(%AT&%
Figure shows the circuit diagram of a 555 Timer connected in monostable Mode. The pin number
8 and 4
th
pin are shorted and given to power supply. The reset pin is connected to power supply to
avoid accidental resets. The pin number 1 is grounded. ince the control pin !5" is not used it is
grounded through #.#1 $F to avoid high fre%uency noises. A resistance R is connected between
reset and discharge pins. The discharge and threshold pins are shorted and a capacitor which
determines the width of the pulse is connected to threshold pin. The other end of the capacitor is
grounded.
;hen the circuit is switched </- the initial voltage across capacitor !'" connected across the
transistor ?1 is Aero. ince the voltage at threshold pin is Aero the voltage at non inverting
terminal is less than inverting terminal. Then the voltage at the output of upper comparator is
high. That is 151. ince no input is applied at trigger pin the output of lower comparator is 5#
which results ?5# and 1 Q = which turns on the transistor ?1 and shorts capacitor to ground.
ince 1 Q = - the out put is Aero. This state is considered as the stable state of
monostable multivibrator since the output does not change its state until
a negative trigger is applied at trigger input. When a negative pulse is applied to
the trigger input 4pin 76 the inverting terminal of lower comparator goes below * +
cc
V . As a result the
output of lower comparator becomes 1 which results # Q = . =ence output becomes high and
the transistor ?1 switches to off condition thereby removing the short circuit across the e9ternal timing
capacitor$ C. Now the capacitor starts charging towards Vcc. through the
resistor R with a time constant RC. When the capacitor voltage exceeds
2/3 Vcc the output of upper comparator !R" becomes high which results
#$% and 1 Q = .. The output goes to Aero and the transistor switches on shorting the capacitor
to ground.
Thus the output goes bac& to its stable state from #uasi stable state
/oteF The triggering portion of the circuit is not included
.
0uring charging the voltage across capacitor is given by
( )
*
!1"
#B
)
+
t RC
c f i f
i f CC
CC
c
V V V V e
V V V
V
V at t T

= +
= =
= =

( )
( )
( )
*
*
1
)
#
+
)
1
+
ln!+" 1.1
T RC CC
CC CC
T RC
Substituting the value in the above equation
V
V V e
e
T RC RC

= +
=
= =
.esign:
0esign a mono@stable multivibrator that generates a pulse having width of 1 msec.
+
6
1.1
1 sec
#.1
1#
C.#C
1.1 #.1 1#
T RC
iven T !
let C uf
then R k

=
=
=
= =

'rocedure:
1. 0esign the monostable multivibrator circuit for the pulse width
). Elace 555 timer on the bread board and 'onnect e&ternal component as per the circuit
diagram.
+. Apply power supply and chec9 the output and voltage across capacitor
4. Find the pulse width
5. 'ompare with theoretical values
6. plot the output and voltage across capacitor on graph sheet
'ulse !idth modulator
/oteF The triggering portion of the circuit is not included
In this mode the output is (:) 4.;6 when there is no triggering$ when it
is triggered via 7nd pin the output goes -I<- 4;cc6 for some time. This
time period is determined by the e9pression T1*. * #C 4 #1#7 = C1C7
in the diagram6. Trigger is applied via a differentiator circuit to ma%e
sharp pulses. The resistor of differentiator is connected to ;cc to
generate negative trigger pulses and the diode avoids positive spi%es.
"nd now this output is modulated using the input voltage applied at the
control pin of the IC. So whenever the trigger pin pulses become
low$ the output of the IC switches to high and as a result the discharge
transistor 4internal to the !!! IC attached to the /th pin6 is disabled. So
C charges through #".This capacitor %eeps on charging until the
voltage is above the input control voltage$ at which the IC changes its
state. Now the output is low which ma%es the discharge transistor
activated thereby discharging the capacitor C. -ence the output pulse
width is determined by the control voltage. This process continues and
we get a continuous stream of pulses which can be used for motor
control$ driving (&>s$ transmitting servo signals for remote control
applications etc.
'rocedure:
1. Elace 555 timer on the bread board and 'onnect e&ternal component as per the circuit
diagram.
)- 'onnect power supply
+. Apply a low fre%uency sinusoid wave form! between 5#=A and 1## =A" as modulating
signal at pin 5.
4.Apply a trigger wave form at pin ) !high fre%uency s%uare wave" power
5. plot the output wave form on graph sheet
#esult? The !!! and its applications in astable and monostable modes were studied
%e/ie! "uestions
0. 1rite a short note on multi/ibrators and their types
2. Explain the function of reset pin of 555 timer.
3. !hat are the modes of operation of 555 timer4
5. 1hat are the applications of 555 timer in monostable mode4
5. 1hat are the applications of 555 timer in astable mode4
6. .efine duty cycle.
7. 1hat is the use of control pin in 555 timer4
8. 1hy pin number 5 is grounded through 9.90uf !hen it is not used4