Uses of Operational Amplifier

Operational Amplifier are versatile devices that can be used in a wide range of applications, and they are an essential component of many electronic circuits. Operational amplifier is used for

a. Integration (Electronic Integration):

By using an op-amp and a few passive components, it's possible to build an integrator circuit, which calculates the integral of the input signal over time. This can be useful for applications such as measuring the velocity or position of a moving object based on its acceleration.

An electronic integration is a device that produces an output voltage waveform which is proportional to the integral of the input voltage waveform. It is an inverting operational amplifier in which feedback resistor has been replaced by a capacitor C. Since S is virtual grounded. We have from Kirchoff's law

This implies that output voltage is integration of input voltage.

b. Voltage differentiator:

An op-amp can be used to build a differentiator circuit, which calculates the derivative of the input signal with respect to time. This can be useful for applications such as detecting changes in a signal or for edge detection in image processing.

An electronic differentiator produces an output wave form whose value at any instant of time is equal to the rate of change of input at that pint in time 't'. The figure shows the ideal differentiator using an operational amplifier. Here we have a capacitor and a feedback resistor.

Being the point 'S' virtually grounded, then Kirchoff's law,

Thus, the output 'vo' is equal to the RfC times the negative instantaneous change of input voltage Vin with time.

If Vin = A sinwt

Then,

c. Wave shaping:

Operational amplifier can be used in combination with passive components to shape the waveform of a signal. For example, they can be used to convert a square wave into a sine wave or to change the duty cycle of a pulsed signal. This can be useful in applications such as signal generators and motor control circuits.

Wave shaping is the process of altering the shape of wave form in some practical manner to produce a new wave form having a desired shape.

This equation shows that the amplitude of triangular wave function increases with time and decreases with frequency.

Above figure shows wave shaping in wave shaping differentiator.

If the given square wave is imperfect, then the output seems as

Overall, the use of op-amp integrator circuits has a wide range of applications in electronics, including audio processing, waveform generation, data acquisition, power supply control, and many others.

This note is a part of the Physics Repository.

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