Operational Amplifiers: What Is An Operational Amplifier?

Operational Amplifiers
What is an Operational Amplifier?

An operational amplifier (op amp) is an analog circuit block that takes a
differential voltage input and produces a single-ended voltage output. Op amps
usually have three terminals:
two high-impedance inputs and a low-impedance output port. The inverting input
is denoted with a minus (-) sign, and the non-inverting input uses a positive (+)
sign. Operational amplifiers work to amplify the voltage differential between the
inputs, which is useful for a variety of analog functions including signal chain,
power, and control applications.
Operational Amplifier Clasifications There are four ways to classify

operational amplifiers:
Voltage amplifiers take voltage in and produce a voltage at the output.
Current amplifiers receive a current input and produce a current output.
Transconductance amplifiers convert a voltage input to a current output.
Transresistance amplifiers convert a current input and produces a voltage output.
Because most op amps are used for voltage amplification, this article will focus on
voltage amplifiers.
Operational Amplifiers: Key Characteristics and Parameters There are many
different important characteristics and parameters related to op amps (see Figure
1). These characteristics are described in greater detail below.
Op Amp Inverting Amplifier
The op amp inverting amplifier circuit is simple to build and implement,
requiring only a few basic electronic components. The op amp inverting
amplifier requires only two extra resistors to be incorporated in the electronic
circuit design process in its most basic version. This makes the circuit
relatively basic and straightforward to install while still delivering excellent
performance. This inverting amplifier can also be used as a virtual earth
mixer or summing amplifier, but the input impedance of this op amp circuit is
lower than that of the inverted format. When used as a summing amplifier,
This op amp circuit is used in audio mixers as well as many other electrical
circuit designs that require voltages to be summed together.
Op amp inverting amplifier circuit

The basic diagram for the inverting operational amplifier circuit is quite
straightforward and only needs a few electronic components beyond the
operational amplifier integrated circuit itself.
Obviously the circuit is based around an operational amplifier, which is a

differential amplifier with two inputs: inverting and non-inverting.
The circuit consists of a resistor from the input terminal to the inverting input
of the circuit, and another resistor connected from the output to the inverting
input of the op-amp. The non inverting input is connected to ground.
In this op amp circuit the feedback is determined by the resistor from the
output to the inverting input and the overall resistance from the inverting
input to ground, i.e. the input resistor as well as the source resistance of the
signal source.
Inverting amplifier gain
One of the main features of the inverting amplifier circuit is the overall gain
that it produces. This is quite easy to calculate.
It is simple to determine the gain of this op amp circuit. The voltage gain, Av,
is actually the output voltage (Vout) divided by the input voltage (Vin), i.e. it is
the number of times the output voltage is larger than the input voltage.
It is also easy to determine the equation for the voltage gain. As the input to
the op-amp draws no current this means that the current flowing in the
resistors R1 and R2 is the same. Using ohms law Vout /R2 = -Vin/R1. Hence
the voltage gain of the circuit Av can be taken as:
Where:
Av = voltage gain
R2 is the feedback resistor value
R1 is the input resistor value
Proteus simulation:
Non Inverting Operational Amplifier (OP Amp)
Non-inverting amplifier is an op-amp-based amplifier with positive voltage gain.

A non-inverting operational amplifier or non-inverting op-amp uses an op-amp as
the main element.
The op amp has two input terminals (pins). One is inverting denoted with a minus
sign (-), and other is non-inverting denoted with a positive sign (+).
When we apply any signal to the non – inverting input, it does not change its
polarity when it gets amplified at the output terminal.
So, in that case, the gain of the amplifier is always positive.
Consider the non-inverting op amp circuit shown above. According to the Voltage
Rule, the voltage at the inverting (-) input will be the same as at the non-inverting
(+) input, which is the applied voltage Vin.
The current going through R1 can then be given as Vin/R1.
According to the Current Rule, the inputs draw no current, so all that current must
then flow through R2.
The output voltage can then be given as Vout=Vin+(Vin/R1)R2.
The gain is then Vout/Vin=1+(R2/R1).
The gain will never be less than 1, so the non-inverting op amp will produce an
amplified signal that is in phase with the input.
What is the difference between an inverting and a non-inverting

amplifier?
The output of a non-inverting amplifier is in phase with the input signal, whereas
the output of an inverting amplifier is out of phase. One op amp and two resistors
can be used to make both inverting and non-inverting op amps, but in different
configurations.
Proteus simulation:
Summing Amplifier or Op Amp Adder
An op amp is an amplifier. But an op amp can also perform summing operation.

We can design an op amp circuit to combine number of input signals and to
produce single output as a weighted sum of input signals.
Summing amplifier is basically an op amp circuit that can combine numbers of

input signal to a single output that is the weighted sum of the applied inputs.
The summing Amplifier is one variation of inverting amplifier. In inverting

amplifier there is only one voltage signal applied to the inverting input as shown
below,
This simple inverting amplifier can easily be modified to summing amplifier, if

we connect several input terminals in parallel to the existing input terminals as
shown below.
Here, n numbers of input terminal are connected in parallel. Here, in the
circuit, the non-inverting terminal of the op amp is grounded, hence potential
at that terminal is zero. As the op amp is considered as ideal op amp, the
potential of the inverting terminal is also zero.
So, the electric potential at node 1, is also zero. From the circuit, it is also clear
that the current i is the sum of currents of input terminals.
Therefore,
Now, in the case of ideal op amp the current at the inverting and non-
inverting terminal are zero. So, as per Kirchhoff Current Law, the entire input
current passes through the feedback path of resistance Rf. That means,
From, equation (i) and (ii), we get,

This indicates that output voltage v0 is weighted sum of numbers of input
voltages.
Proteus simulation:
Op-Amp Buffer
So let's look at that third amplifier challenge problem -- design a non-inverting
amplifier with a gain of exactly 1. Now, we could have done it with two inverting
amplifiers, but there's a better way.
We calculate gain for a non-inverting amplifier with the following formula:
Gain = 1 + (R2/R1)
So, if we make R2 zero, and R1 infinity, we'll have an amp with a gain of exactly
1. How can we do this? The circuit is surprisingly simple.
Op-Amp Buffer
Here, R2 is a plain wire, which has effectively zero resistance. We can think of R1
as an infinite resistor -- we don't have any connection to ground at all.
This arrangement is called an Op-Amp Follower, or Buffer. The buffer has an

output that exactly mirrors the input (assuming it's within range of the voltage
rails), so it looks kind of useless at first.
However, the buffer is an extremely useful circuit, since it helps to solve many
impedance issues. The input impedance of the op-amp buffer is very high: close to
infinity. And the output impedance is very low: just a few ohms.
This means we can use buffers to help chain together sub-circuits in stages without
worrying about impedance problems. The buffer gives benefits similar to those of
the emitter follower we looked at with transistors, but tends to work more ideally.
Proteus simulation:

Operational Amplifiers: What Is An Operational Amplifier?

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Operational Amplifiers: What Is An Operational Amplifier?

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Operational Amplifiers: What Is An Operational Amplifier?

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Operational Amplifiers

What is an Operational Amplifier?

Operational Amplifier Clasifications There are four ways to classify

Op amp inverting amplifier circuit

Obviously the circuit is based around an operational amplifier, which is a

Non Inverting Operational Amplifier (OP Amp)

Non-inverting amplifier is an op-amp-based amplifier with positive voltage gain.

So, in that case, the gain of the amplifier is always positive.

What is the difference between an inverting and a non-inverting

An op amp is an amplifier. But an op amp can also perform summing operation.

Summing amplifier is basically an op amp circuit that can combine numbers of

The summing Amplifier is one variation of inverting amplifier. In inverting

This simple inverting amplifier can easily be modified to summing amplifier, if

From, equation (i) and (ii), we get,

We calculate gain for a non-inverting amplifier with the following formula:

This arrangement is called an Op-Amp Follower, or Buffer. The buffer has an

You might also like