Analog Electronics (Second Edition)

Preface

Electronics has been my profession for well over aquarter of a century and my hobby for evenlonger. Over that whole period, I have been anavid collector of knowledge of the subject, so thatby now my card index system contains referencesto hundreds of articles published during that time.Now references are all very well, but one oftenneeds information in a hurry, so it has been mypractice, more often than not, also to save thearticle itself. Thus I now have, stored in manybulging files, an invaluable hoard of articles,photocopies and originals, from dozens of maga-zines, books and learned journals. For some yearsthe feeling has been growing that I should not siton all this information, but should share it around.Of course, it is all freely available already, in thevarious publications in which it originally ap-peared, but that makes it a very diffuse body ofknowledge and consequently very elusive. In thisbook I have tried to bring some of it together,concentrating on what I have found over the yearsto be the most useful, and seeking to explain it assimply as possible. Whether or not I have suc-ceeded, the reader must judge for himself.This book is not a textbook, but I hope never-theless that you will learn a good deal from it.Textbooks have traditionally presented a greatdeal of information compressed within a relativelyconfined space- a format which is appropriate inconjunction with a course including lessons orlectures, at a school, polytechnic or university.However, it makes life very difficult for the student,however keen, who is working on his own with noone to consult when something is not clear. It mustbe said also that some textbooks seem to delight inthe most abstract treatment of the subject, draggingin degree-level maths at every turn, even when amore concrete approach- using simple vectordiagrams, for example-would be perfectly satisfac-tory and much more readily comprehensible tonormal mortals. On occasions even, one might beexcused for thinking this or that particular textbookto be mainly an ego trip for the author.Now make no mistake, maths is an essential toolin electrical engineering in general and in electro-nics in particular. Indeed, the research laboratoriesof all the large electronics companies employ atleast one 'tame mathematician' to help out when-ever an engineer finds himself grappling with themathematical aspects of a problem where his ownmaths is too rusty. For the practising electronicengineer (unless also a born mathematician) can nomore expect to be fluent in all the mathematicaltechniques he may ever need, or indeed may havelearnt in the past, than the mathematician canexpect to be abreast of all the latest developmentsin electronics (it takes the engineer all his time to dothat!). It seems particularly appropriate thereforeto attempt to explain analog electronic circuits assimply as possible, appealing as far as possible tonothing more complicated than basic algebra andtrigonometry, with which I assume the reader ofthis book to be familiar. This has been donesuccessfully in the past. Older readers may recallthe articles by 'Cathode Ray', the pen-name of awell known writer of yesteryear on electronics,which appeared over many years in the magazine

Wireless WorM.

The approach adopted in thisbook is not essentially different. The pace is moreleisurely and discursive than in a typical textbook,the aim being to take the reader 'inside' electroniccircuits so that he can see what makes them tick-how and why exactly they do what they do. To thisend, vector diagrams are particularly useful; theyillustrate very graphically what is going on, en-abling one to grasp exactly how the circuit worksrather than simply accepting that if one slogsthrough the maths, the circuit does indeed behaveas the textbooks say. There will of course be thosewhose minds work in a more academic, mathe-matical way, and these may well find their needsserved better by conventional textbooks.

x Preface

With this brief apology for a style which somewill undoubtedly find leisurely to the point ofboredom, but which will I hope materially assistothers, it only remains to mention two minorpoints before passing on to the main body of thebook. First, I must apologize to British and manyother non-US readers for spelling 'analog'throughout in the North American manner: theywill in any case be used to seeing it spelt thus,whereas 'analogue' looks very quaint to NorthAmerican eyes. Second, the following pages canbe read at different levels. The technically mindedadolescent, already interested in electronics in theearly years of secondary or high school, will findmuch of practical interest, even if the theory is notappreciated until later. Technicians and studentsat technical colleges and polytechnics will all findthe book useful, as also will electronics under-my colleague and friend of more than a quarter ofa century's standing, Mick G. Thanks also to DaveWatson who produced the 'three-dimensional wiregrid' illustrations of poles and zeros in Appendix 4and elsewhere. For permission to reproduce circuitdiagrams or other material, supplied or originallypublished by them, my thanks are also due to allthe following:C. Barmaper Ltd

EDNElectronic DesignElectronic EngineeringElectronic Product DesignElectronics Worm

(formerly

Wireless World)ETI

Ever Ready Company (Great Britain) Ltd

Hewlett-Packard Journal

graduates. Indeed, many graduates and even post-graduates will find the book very handy, especiallythose who come into electronics from a differentbackground, such as a physics degree.Writing the following pages has turned out to bea not inconsiderable task. My sincere thanks aredue first to my ever-loving (and long-suffering)wife, who shared the typing load, and also tothose who have kindly vetted the work. In par-ticular, for checking the manuscript for howlersand for many helpful suggestions, I must thank mycolleagues Pete C., Dave F., Tim S. and especiallyMaplin Electronic Supplies LtdMaxim Integrated Products UK Ltd

Microwave JournalMicrowaves & RF

Motorola Inc.

New Electronics

Philips Components Ltd (formerly Mullard Ltd)

Practical ElectronicsPractical WirelessIan Hickman

Eur. Ing

Chapter

1Passive components

The passive components used in electronic circuitsall make use of one of the three fundamentalphenomena of resistance, capacitance and induc-tance. Just occasionally, two may be involved, forexample delay cable depends for its operation onboth capacitance and inductance. Some com-ponents depend on the interaction between anelectrical property and, say, a mechanical prop-erty; thus a piezoelectric sounder operates byvirtue of the small change in dimension of certaintypes of ceramic dielectric when a voltage isapplied. But most passive components are simplyresistors, capacitors or inductors. In some waysinductance is the most subtle effect of the three,since with its aid one can make transformers,which will be described later in this chapter.

Resistors

Some substances, for example metals (particularlycopper and aluminium- also gold, but that's a bitexpensive for everyday use), conduct electricitywell; these substances are called

conductors.

They are distinct from many others called

insulators,

such as glass, polystyrene, wax, PTFEetc., which in practical terms do not conductelectricity at all. In fact, their resistivity is about1018 or a million million million times that ofmetals. Even though copper, say, conducts elec-tricity well, it exhibits some resistance to the flowof electricity and consequently it does not conductperfectly; energy is lost in the process, appearing inthe form of heat. In the case of a wire of length 1metres and cross-sectional area A square metres,the current I in amperes which flows when anelectrical supply with an electromotive force(EMF) of E volts is connected across it is given

by

l

,-./(.,) I,.,,

where P (lower-case Greek letter rho) is a propertyof the material of the wire, called

resistivity.

In thecase of copper the value of P is 1.55 • 10 -80m inother words, the resistance between opposite facesof a solid cube of copper of 1 m side is 0.0155 ~f~.The term (//A)p is called the

resistance

of the wire,denoted by R. So one may writelR -~p (1.2)Combining (1.1) and (1.2) gives I=

E/R,

the formin which most people are familiar with

Ohm's law

(see Figure 1.1). As mentioned earlier, whencurrent flows through a resistance, energy is dis-sipated as heat. The rate at which energy isI (amperes)1.0

t '

51

0.5-

/ i

-r jl __0w.5 ~ , , v ,~--- E (volts)-1.5 0.5 1 1.5-1.0The slope of the line is given by

gl/gE.

In this illustrationgl = 1 A and gE = 1 V, so the conductance G = 1 S. The Sstands for siemens, the unit of conductance, formerly calledthe mho. G =

1/R.Figure 1.1

Current through a resistor of R ohms as afunction of the applied voltage. The relation is linear,as shown, for a perfect resistor. At DC and low frequen-cies, most resistors are perfect for practical purposes.

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