Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar

Electrical and Electronics Laboratory

Expt. No. 2 Basic Operational Amplifier Circuits

Aim: To design op-amp based circuits and evaluate their performance.

Pre-lab work:
1. Review the material on op amp-based circuits covered in ES104.
2. Familiarize yourself with the datasheet of the 741 operational amplifier, and its
performance parameters.
3. Do any circuit design that is required on paper before coming to the lab session.

Practical Notes:
You will design circuits based on the 741 op-amp IC in this lab. This IC requires a power supply
voltage of VS+ = +15V and VS = 15V to be applied to its power supply terminals. The power
supply ground needs to be the same as the input signal ground. Never apply voltages greater
than the power supply voltages to the op-amp input terminals. Never apply an external voltage
to the op-amps output terminal. Keep the power supply voltage at its minimum value before
turning it on. Connect the positive, negative and ground wires from the power supply to the
breadboard (with the op-amp IC on it) before turning the power supply on. NEVER insert or
remove any IC when the power supply to it is active.
The pin assignments of the 741 IC are given below (you will not use the offset null pins in this
experiment):

Pin No. Function Pin No. Function

1 Offset Null 5 Offset Null
2 Inverting Input (-) 6 Output
3 Non Inverting Input (-) 7 Positive Supply (+ VS)
4 Negative Supply (- VS) 8 No Connection (NC)
Lab Problems:

1. The potentiometer-based circuit shown in Figure 1 can be

used as a simple variable dc source. (a) Based on the nominal +20
+15V V

resistor values shown in Figure 1, calculate the range of Vo, and

compare with what you obtain by breadboarding the circuit 22 k

in Figure 1. (b) Adjust the potentiometer to obtain Vo = 8 V,

and then connect a load resistance RL = 1 k between the
potentiometer tap and ground. Is the measured voltage across
22 k
RL equal to the desired 8 V? If not, justify with simple
calculations, the measured voltage obtained. Repeat with
RL = 10 k (esure that potentiometer tap position is not
changed). (c) Based on your understanding of what is Figure 1
happening, suggest and implement an op amp based circuit that
can be added to the circuit in Figure 1 to improve circuit behavior, and test the variability of
the (desired 8 V) output dc voltage, as the load resistance is varied.

2. Design a difference amplifier that has a gain of 10 and a differential input impedance of 22
k. (a) If the positive input of the diff amp is connected v1(t) = 1+2sin2000t V and the
negative input is connected to v2(t) = 2+2sin2000t V, observe and measure the output
voltage on the oscilloscope, and comment on how well the difference amp has attenuated
the common mode signal and amplified the differential signal. Calculate an appropriate
figure of merit for the difference amp.

3. Figure 2 shows a low pass filter circuit. Design the circuit

to obtain a dc gain 40 dB, a 3-dB cut-off frequency of 1 kHz,
and an input resistance of 1 k. Obtain the magnitude
(Bode) plot of the filter in dB. At what frequency does the
filter gain become 0 dB? Is it as expected? (the Bode plot
can be obtained by using a sinusoidal input to the circuit,
and varying the input frequency upwards from about 10 Hz).
Measure the phase of the output sinusoid at a very low frequency Figure 2
~ 10 Hz, at the 3-dB frequency, and the frequency at which the gain is 0 dB. Is it as
expected?