TABLE OF CONTENTS Darren Ashby
Bruce Carter
Ron Mancini
Tim Williams
Bonnie Baker
An operational amplifier, often called an op-amp, in my opinion, are probably the misunderstood, yet potentially useful IC at the engineer's disposal. It makes sense that if you can understand this device you can put it to use, giving you a great advantage in designing successful products.
Do you understand how an op-amp works? Would you believe that op-amps were designed to make it easier to create a circuit? You probably didn't think that the last time you were puzzling over a misbehaving breadboard in the lab.
In today's digital world, it seems to be common practice to breeze over the topic of op-amps giving the student a dusting of commonly used formulas without really explaining the purpose or theory behind them. Then, the first time an engineer designs an op-amp circuit, the result is utter confusion when the circuit doesn't work as expected. This discussion is intended to give some insight into the guts of an operational amplifier, and to give the reader an intuitive understanding of op-amps.
One last point make sure you read this section first! It is my opinion that one of the causes of op-fusion (op-amp confusion) as I like to call it, is that the theory is taught out of order. There is a very specific order to this, so please understand each section before moving on.
First, let's take the symbol...
