mesuring vibrational frequency with light

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xofuvila
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Joined: Sun Dec 06, 2020 11:03 pm
Occupation: Other Adult

mesuring vibrational frequency with light

Post by xofuvila »

Dear Science Buddies,:)

I recently took up the project of measuring vibrational frequency using light for my science fair. I had purchased all the materials to make the light-to-voltage converter.

My parents and I set up the light-to-voltage converter circuit and connected it to the 5 volt battery source. We checked all of the connections and they were all set up correctly as in the diagram. When we connected the supply, it burnt out the light diode. There was an electrical smell and the diode turned brown.

Our question is: Why did this happen? What could have gone wrong? We checked the circuit diagram several times to make sure we'd connected pin 1 to the black ground wire, pin 2 to the supply (red) wire, and pin 3 to the resistor. We used a digital multimeter to measure the power source, and it was only 5V (3-AA batteries). The max voltage for the converter is 6 V.

We are going to order more of light diodes for the experiment, but we're wondering what went wrong with the circuit so we can fix it.

Also, do we need a solderless breadboard to make this circuit? We didn't use the breadboard, and I don't see why we need it. We connected the supply and ground wires directly to the photodiode sensor. In order to connect the wires to the photodiode sensor, we bent back the pins on the sensor so that the wires wouldn't fall off. Could that be why the photodiode burnt out?

Thanks in advance for an help you can offer
rmarz
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Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:26 pm
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Re: mesuring vibrational frequency with light

Post by rmarz »

xofuvila - Could you send a link to the schematic diagram you used for this circuit? I can look for possible problems that you experienced. Thanks.

Rick Marz
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