The following is Part 1 of a four-part series. The basic one-op-amp differential amplifier consists of one op-amp and four resistors. Yet few have contemplated the depth of its complexity. It is ...

In a balanced op-amp circuit, the op-amp inputs see equal impedances looking into the circuit. Balanced circuits provide better performance by cancelling some input errors and have a simple R F /R I ...

In 2008, Kendall Castor-Perry began an extended investigation into the effect that bypass capacitor selection has on analog circuit performance. Five years on, we’re re-posting this classic series, ...

In the last Circuit VR we looked at some basic op amp circuits in a simulator, including the non-inverting amplifier. Sometimes you want an amplifier that inverts the signal. That is a 5V input ...

Circuit simulations are great because you can experiment with circuits and make changes with almost no effort. In Circuit VR, we look at circuits using a simulator to do experiments without having to ...

The term instrumentation amplifier (INA) often is misused, referring to the application rather than the architecture of the device. Historically, any amplifier that was considered precision (i.e., ...

My hands-on introduction to operational amplifiers was in 1969 while in the army as a junior scientist in the Atmospheric Science Laboratory at the White Sands Proving Grounds. We had taken a ...