Lab 9 Operational Amplifier Applications I

Purpose This lab studies some of the basic uses of op amps. Because the basic use of the op amp is an amplifier, the three most configurations will be studied. These include the inverting, non-inverting, and differential amplifier circuits. The lab will also investigate powering an op-amp from a single supply. Material and Equipment 741 Op Amp, 5 k pot Assorted Resistors (2k, 39k) The primary use of the operational amplifier is as signal amplifier. By using feedback, operational amplifiers can be designed to have a wide range of gains. The opamp draws very little currents into its inputs. This means that the input impedance looking into the inverting and the non-inverting inputs is very large. The open-loop gain is also very large. Assuming the open-loop gain is infinity, we can show that the voltages at the inverting and the non-inverting terminals should be approximately the same (potential) at all the times. Because of this, we say that the two terminals track each other. Based on these assumptions, a simple procedure for op-amp analysis can be formed. Once the op-amp is integrated into a circuit, it can be easily analyzed through the following steps: Write the node equation at the inverting terminal. Write the node equation at the non-inverting terminal. Set the voltage at the inverting terminal equal to the voltage at the non-inverting terminal. Solve for the gain. Theory

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Inverting Amplifier One of the most common operational amplifier designs is the inverting amplifier (Figure 9-1). This amplifier can be analyzed by using the above procedure. Remember, no current flows into the op-amp terminals.

Figure 9-1: The inverting amplifier configuration.

The gain of this amplifier is:

This means that the gain is completely determined by the external resistors as we expected. The negative gain implies is called an inverting amplifier. This amplifier has an input resistance of approximately R1. Non-inverting Amplifier Another common op-amp configuration is the non-inverting amplifier (Figure 9-2). This amplifier has a very high input impedance and does not invert the signal like previous design.

Figure 9-2 : the non-inverting amplifier configuration.

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The gain of this amplifier is:

Unity Gain Source Follower A special case of the non-inverting amplifier is the source follower. In this case, we let the ratio of R2/R1 go to zero. This is done in practice by replacing R2 with a short circuit and replacing R1 with an open circuit. The gain of the amplifier is:

This configuration has the properties of having very high input impedance, very low output resistance, and the unity gain. It is used as a buffer to isolate a source from its load. It is very useful amplifier for the instrumentation circuits.

Figure 9-3: The source follower buffer circuit.

Procedure 1) Inverting Amp a) Construct an inverting amplifier with R1=2k, R2=39k (Figure 9-1). Calculate numerically value of inverting amplifier gain. b) Power the op-amp with +15V and -15V as in last experiment and apply a 1 Vp-p, 1 kHz sinusoidal input signal to the amplifier. c) Increase the input voltage until distortion occurs at the output. Display Vin and Vout at the same time on the scope. Measure the input voltages Vin and Vout . From this, calculate the gain of the inverting amplifier. Is this value close to what you have calculated in step a? d) Capture the input, output waveforms for your lab report. e) Measure the input resistance of the amplifier. In order to do this use 5k resistor (only use the wiper and one end) and put it in series with the R1 resistor at the input. Adjust the wiper such that the gain reduces to the 50% of the value you measured in step 1-c. When this occurs, remove the 33

pot from the circuit and measure its resistance using a multimeter. This is the value of your input resistance. 2) Non-Inverting Amp (Figure 9-2) Repeat the above procedure except part e. 3) Unity Gain Buffer (Figure 9-3) Repeat the above procedure except part e.

Questions for the Lab Report The input resistance of non-inverting and buffer amplifier is infinity for ideal opamp and for real op-amps this value is very high (see figures 9.2 and 9.3). State why this is true.

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