IC 7805

IC 7805 is a linear voltage regulator that gives a regulated 5V output for various input voltages, within
a certain range. It’s an IC in the IC 78xx series which are all voltage regulators used to regulate
fluctuations in the power supply. The 78 part is a convention that tells us that the regulator gives a
positive voltage output and the latter (xx) denotes the voltage of the output supplied. Another series
of regulators, 79xx gives a negative regulated voltage output.

IC 7805 has three ports:

1) Input
2) Ground (Common to both i/p and o/p)
3) Output

Fig. IC 7805 and Schematic Diagram

The IC 7805 is really useful because a lot of digital circuitry requires 5V to operate. The input voltage
can be as high as 35V in an LM7805, the input voltage must be higher than the output voltage by at
least 2V for the regulator to work. If the input voltage is too low, the regulator will be unstable. The
lowest i/p voltage at which the regulator works is known as the dropout voltage.

Though the input voltage can go till a maximum of 35V it’s recommended to limit it to 8V (efficient i/p
voltage = 7.5V) because if the input voltage is greater than 8V, the excess voltage will heat up the
regulator. On the back side, there’s the heat sink (with a hole) which drains all the heat generated by
the excess input voltage (>8V.) This heat sink is connected to the ground (pin 2.)
This means that, higher the input voltage, more will be the energy loss in the form of heat. A formula
is given below to determine the heat lost in the regulator.

Heat lost = (Input Voltage - 5)*(Output Current) W

The IC gives an output current in the range of 1A-1.5A and an output voltage in the range of
4.8V-5.2V.

Fig. Voltage regulator circuit using IC 7805

The voltage regulator circuit with an IC 7805 looks as shown above. The 0.22μF acts as a filter
capacitor to reduce the ripple factor and the other capacitor acts as a buffer capacitor across the
output. (Buffer capacitor reduces the voltage surges that might occur across the output.)
 Number/Radix Systems
Number systems are used to define magnitude of any quantity.

Base/Radix of a number system (r): It’s a value that represents the number system. It also defines
the maximum value of digits/symbols/letters used in a number system.
Maximum no. of digits = 0 --> (r - 1)

Binary: A number system that represents numeric values using only zeroes and ones. This is also
known as the base 2 number system.
Base = 2 = r
Max. no. of digits = 0 --> 1
This is why the binary system consists only of 0s and 1s.

Octal: A number system that represents numeric values using digits from 0 to 7 only. This is
known as the base 8 system
Base = r = 8
Max. No. Of Digits = 0 --> 7

Decimal: A number system that represents numeric values using digits from 0 to 9 only, is called
a decimal no. system. It’s also known as the base 10 system.
Base = r = 10
Max. No. Of Digits = 0 --> 9

Hexadecimal: A number system that represents numeric values using digits from 0 to 15 only, is
called a hexadecimal no. system. It’s also known as the base 16 system.
Base = r = 16
Max. No. Of. Digits = 0 --> 15

Binary-Coded Decimal(BCD): A number system that assigns a four digit binary value to each
numeral in a decimal. Here, the numerical value to be converted into binary is converted into
4-bit chunks, unlike the traditional binary system.
Base = 2
Max. No. Of Digits = 0 --> 1

Excess - 3(XS3): An XS-3 code for any number is obtained by adding 3 to each numeral of the
number. After adding 3 to all the digits, BCD is written and it’s called XS3 code of certain number.