# Full-wave rectified sine wave representation?

Let us suppose I have an input voltage $V=V_0 \sin(\omega t)$ connected to a full-wave rectifier bridge which changes the voltage to $V=V_0|\sin(\omega t)|$. Now, if I want to work out the voltage drops, currents and the impedances in the following circuit, how do I represent the rectified waveform in terms of a superposition of elementary sinusoidal signals?

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab

I tried to use wolframalpha to give me a Fourier decomposition of the wave (which I don't know how to compute analytically). But now I do not know how to find the final output voltage across the load resistor. I know the basic methods of finding impedances of capacitors and resistors, but since there is a superposition of many waves here,I am unable to find the answer. The impedance of capacitor is $\frac{1}{i\omega C}$, I don't know the ω here.

• The way to do it with excruciating accuracy would be to use timestep simulation with models for all components. This is pretty much never needed like Andy alludes to. – HL-SDK Nov 15 '13 at 16:13