Exercise 1: Simulating Op-Amps

1. What is the theoretical gain of this amplifier? Show your work. You may use the formulas derived
in class. (2 marks)

The theoretical gain of this amplifier can be found using the inverting amplifier formula:

V out −R f
A v= =
V¿ R¿
Where, Av is the Amplifier gain of DC voltage,

Vout is the output voltage,

Vin is the input voltage,

Rf is the feedback resistor, and,

Rin is the input resistor.

Due to virtual ground concept, the inverting terminal is also appearing to be at ground potential. Given
that, no current flows into the input terminals and the differential input voltage are zero as V1 = V2 = 0.

We have R f =10 kΩ and R¿ =5 kΩ ,

−R f
A v=
R¿
10 kΩ
¿−
5 kΩ
¿−2
The theoretical gain of this amplifier is -2.

2. Design an experiment to test whether this gain is achieved by your circuit in TinkerCAD. Describe
your experiment, and present evidence that proves that it works. (3 marks)

To test whether this gain is achieved by our circuit in TinkerCAD, different values of V ¿ were chosen to
verify if it equals to the theoretical voltage gain of -2. Per the instructions, the voltage supplies were set
to 15 V, so the V ¿ values were selected so that V out will not exceed that value.

Table 1: The chosen values of V ¿ and theoretical voltage gain of -2 to find V out

V ¿ (V) V out (V) A v (Voltage gain)

1.00 -2.00 -2
3.00 -6.00 -2
5.00 -10.0 -2
7.00 -14.0 -2
Note that when we are creating the circuit, we are using the 5 kΩ resistors.

Figure 1: TinkerCAD of the physical circuit using OpAmps where the V ¿ is 1000 mV and the voltage gain
is -2.0 to get a V out of -2.00 V

Figure 2: TinkerCAD of the physical circuit using OpAmps where the V ¿ is 3.00 V and the voltage gain is
-2.0 to get a V out of -6.00 V
Figure 3: TinkerCAD of the physical circuit using OpAmps where the V ¿ is 5.00 V and the voltage gain is
-2.0 to get a V out of -10.0 V

Figure 4: TinkerCAD of the physical circuit using OpAmps where the V ¿ is 7.00 V and the voltage gain is
-2.0 to get a V out of -14.0 V
 Exercise 2: The Single-Stage Amplifier
1. Determine the appropriate resistors to achieve the specified gain. Show your work. (3 marks)

Using the non-inverting amplifier formula, we can determine the appropriate resistors to achieve the
specific gain of 4:

V out
A v= +1
V¿
V out
4= +1
V¿
V out
4−1=
V¿
V out
3=
V¿
Set V out to be 3.00 kΩ and V ¿ to be 1 kΩ . We can get three 1 kΩ resistors in series to obtain the
approximate 3.00 kΩ . This is because the value of the final resistor near V out is not significant regarding
calculating voltage gain.

2. Include a circuit diagram that clearly shows all components. (2 marks)

Figure 5: Schematic of a circuit diagram for OpAmp with four 1 kΩ resistors

Figure 6: 741 Op Amp pinout to clarify how to connect the circuit
3. Include clear photos of your circuit showing all connections and components. (2 marks)
Figure 7: Physical circuit from the schematic of voltage divider including the power supply (image
above), a close-up of the breadboard from the top view (second image), a close-up of the breadboard
from the top right view (third image), and a close-up of the breadboard from the top left view (last
image).

4. State the theoretical saturation limit. (1 mark)

The theoretical saturation limit is ±15 V since the positive and negative power pin (pins 4 and 7) of the
Op Amp is connected to a fixed ±15 V power supply.
 5. Measure the gain. Describe how this measurement was taken. (2 marks)

The gain was measured by choosing different values of the input voltage and measuring the
corresponding output voltage using the voltmeter. The output voltage was divided by the input voltage
to obtain the voltage gain. As you can see, the voltage gain is approximately 4.

Table 2: The chosen value of V ¿ , measured value of V out , and calculation of the theoretical voltage gain

V ¿ (V) V out (V) A v (Voltage gain)

V out
A v=
V¿
1 3.9817 3.9817
2 8.013 4.0065
3 11.978 3.9926
4 14.030 3.5075

6. Measure the actual saturation limit. Describe how this measurement was taken. (2 marks)

The actual saturation limit was measured by using values of the input voltage that would exceed the
limit of 15 V, according to the theoretical gain of 4. Then the output voltage was measured from the
voltmeter using the Agilent multimeter probes.

Table 3: The V ¿ value chosen to exceed the limit of 15 V, and the measured value of V out , to get the
saturation limit

V ¿ (V) V out (V)

5 14.029
6 14.029
7 14.029

7. Include a brief conclusion on whether your circuit met the specification. (2 marks)

This circuit did meet the specifications. I know this because according to the values from part 2 question
5, the gain is within the range of 4 ± 0.25. The amplifier also can be built using a combination of the
resistors available in the lab kits, where we used four 1 kΩ resistors.