Operational Amplifiers

An operational amplifier, or op-amp, is a flexible circuit building block used in many electronic designs. It can act like a voltage-controlled voltage source, and it can also be used to create a voltage- or current-controlled current source. When resistors and capacitors are connected to its terminals, an op-amp can perform mathematical operations on signals.

Op-amps are able to sum signals, amplify a signal, integrate it, or differentiate it. These features make them useful in practical...

An operational amplifier, or op-amp, is an electronic circuit component used with other circuit parts to carry out a signal-processing task. It is often described with an equivalent circuit model. In that model, the output section includes a voltage-controlled source in parallel with the output resistance, R o.

The model also shows the input resistance, R i, which is the Thevenin equivalent resistance seen at the input terminals. The differential input voltage, v d, is the difference between...

Operational amplifiers can be used as inverting, noninverting, and buffer amplifiers. In these circuits, the output voltage depends on the input voltage and the resistor setup around the op-amp.

In an inverting amplifier, the input voltage is sent through a resistor to the inverting terminal. The non-inverting terminal is grounded, and a feedback resistor links the inverting terminal to the output. Using Kirchhoff's Current Law and an ideal op-amp model, the gain can be found. This circuit...

Operational amplifiers can be wired to add or subtract signals. In these two op-amp setups, the summing amplifier combines several input signals into one output, while the difference amplifier compares two inputs and amplifies their difference.

A summing amplifier is also called an adder. Input signals, such as audio signals, enter through input resistors. These resistors send currents through the feedback resistor, which produces an output voltage. Using Kirchhoff's current law and Ohm's Law,...

Practical op amps are used to separate useful signals from unwanted noise. A difference amplifier should ideally amplify only the difference between two input signals. In real circuits, though, the output depends on both differential gain and common-mode gain.

The common-mode rejection ratio, or CMRR, measures how well an op amp rejects common-mode signals. Common-mode signals are the same on both inputs. A higher CMRR helps an op amp ignore noise and amplify the wanted signal, such as music...

Op-amp circuits are used in cruise control systems to help cars keep a constant speed. In these systems, operational amplifiers, or op-amps, can work as integrators and differentiators. Both circuits use resistors and capacitors, which makes them compact and cost-effective.

An integrator circuit produces an output that is proportional to the integral of the input signal. It is made by replacing the feedback resistor in a standard inverting amplifier with a capacitor. The output and input...

Operational amplifiers can be connected in series as separate stages. This cascade works because op-amps have very high input resistance and very low output resistance. Those properties help each stage keep its input-output relationship while driving the next stage.

In a cascaded op-amp circuit, the output of one stage becomes the input of the next. Each stage adds gain to the signal as it passes through. The overall gain is the product of the gain of each stage.

This design can improve...

An ECG signal amplifier helps an electrocardiography machine measure the heart’s electrical activity. ECG electrodes detect tiny voltage changes on the skin that come from depolarization of the heart muscle during each heartbeat. These signals are in the microvolt range, so they can be easily hidden by noise or interference.

To solve this problem, ECG machines use an instrumentation amplifier. This amplifier boosts the ECG waveform while reducing common-mode noise, which is interference that...

A sound engineer designs an op-amp pre-amplifier for a vintage mixing console. The console’s output is too low for modern recording equipment, so the signal must be boosted before it can be used. The goal is to build a preamp that raises the audio level without changing the console’s character.

The design must meet three clear requirements. It needs a gain of 10, an input impedance above 10 kilo-ohms so the console is not overloaded, and a frequency range that covers the full audio spectrum...