Kyle Steffen Chua ELC 101.2-Section D September 10, 2013
I. Title Voltage Follower Circuit II. Objective To construct a voltage follower circuit and demonstrate the principles behind it. III. Theoretical Information Voltage Follower A voltage follower circuit is used to transfer a voltage from a first circuit, having a high output impedance level, to a second circuit with a low input impedance level. The circuit essentially just makes a copy - at the output - of the the input voltage, Vin. It does that without drawing any current from wherever the input voltage terminal is attached. However, at the output terminal you can draw whatever amount of current the operational amplifier can supply (and that depends upon the kind of operational amplifier you use). [1]
Operational Amplifier The operational amplifier (op-amp) is a voltage controlled voltage source with very high gain. It is a five terminal four port active element. The symbol of the op-amp with the associated terminals and ports is shown on Figure 1(a) and (b). [2]
IV. Materials and Equipment 3-1kOhm Resistors 2- 1uF Capacitors NPN Operational Amplifier 10V voltage source V. Procedure
Construct the circuit above. Compute for the input and output values. Show that they are equal.
VI. Hypothesis The first to resistors connected to the transistor's base are forming a voltage divider, in order to set a biasing point for the transistor to work in our desired range. Then the transistor, our gain component for the circuit which in this case is only used as a gateway to isolate two circuit stages. [3] The resistor in the emitter is used to create a voltage from the current passing from the transistor; Without it we can't get any voltage as our output would be effectively shorted to ground (0 volts). [3] The capacitors that are displayed in the schematic are optional, but very useful to prevent a wrong operation of the circuit, specially in audio or high frequency uses. they stop any DC voltage to move or otherwise disrupt the bias point of the transistor, thus causing undesired operation. If you build this circuit only with dc remove the capacitors, as they will prevent the circuit from functioning under those conditions. [3]
VII. Simulations:
VIII. References [1]The Unity Gain Buffer Amplifier. Exploring Electrical Engineering. Bucknell University.http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/mastascu/elessonshtml/OpAmps/OpAmp 3Note1Buffer.html. 8 Sept. 2013 [2] Chaniotakis and Cory. Operational Amplifiers. 6.071 Spring 2006 http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-071j- introduction-to-electronics-signals-and-measurement-spring-2006/lecture- notes/22_op_amps1.pdf. 8 Sept. 2013 [3] Zakmata. Voltage Circuit Follower. Electronic Circuits for Beginners. 11 May 2009 http://electroniccircuitsforbeginners.blogspot.com/2009/05/voltage-follower-circuit. html. 8 Sept. 2013