ANALYSIS OF CIRCUITS

CONTAINING IDEAL
OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIERS
Part I
DIFFERENTIAL AMPLIFIER MODEL
For purposes of signal analysis, the differential amplifier can
be represented by its input resistance Rid , output resistance
Ro, and controlled voltage source Avid , as in Fig.
A = voltage gain (open-circuit voltage gain)
vid = (v+ − v−) = differential input signal voltage
Rid = amplifier input resistance
Ro = amplifier output resistance
vo = Avid
= A (v+ − v−)

2
In a typical application, the amplifier is driven by a signal
source having a Thevenin equivalent voltage vi and resistance
RI and is connected to a load represented by the resistor RL
, as in Fig. For this simple circuit, the input voltage vid and the
output voltage vo can be written in terms of the circuit
elements as:

3
Combining Eqs. yields an expression for the overall voltage
gain of the amplifier circuit for arbitrary values of RI and RL :

Example
Calculate the voltage gain for an amplifier with the following
parameters: A = 100, Rid = 100 k, and Ro = 100, with RI = 10k
and RL = 1000. Express the result in dB.
Solution

4
Multisim Results
R1 R3

10kΩ 100Ω

V2
R4
100mVpk R2 V1 1.0kΩ
100 Hz 100kΩ 100 V/V
0°

5
Assumptions For Ideal Operational Amplifier Analysis
The ideal operational amplifier is a special case of the ideal
difference amplifier, in which Rid =∞, Ro = 0, and, most
importantly, voltage gain A =∞. Infinite gain leads to the first
of two assumptions used to analyze circuits containing ideal
op amps. Since vo = Avid Solving for vid

The two primary assumptions used for analysis of circuits

containing ideal op amps are:
1. Input voltage difference is zero: vid = 0
vid = (v+ − v−) = 0  v+ = v−
2. Input currents are zero: i+ = 0 and i− = 0
Infinite gain and infinite input resistance are the explicit
characteristics that lead to Assumptions 1 and 2.
6
The Inverting Amplifier

7
The Noninverting Amplifier

8
The Unity-gain Buffer,
Or Voltage Follower

9
The Summing Amplifier (Inverting)

10
The General Summing Amplifier
(Inverting and Noninverting)

11
The Difference Amplifier

Thus, the circuit above amplifies the difference between v1 and v2 by a

factor that is determined by the ratio of resistors R2 and R1.
For R2 = R1,
vo = −(v1 − v2)
This particular circuit is sometimes called a differential amplifier or
subtractor.
12