Operational amplifiers (Figure 11.1) are analog integrated circuits designed for linear amplification that offer near-ideal characteristics (virtually infinite voltage gain and input resistance coupled with low output resistance and wide bandwidth).
Figure 11.1 A typical operational amplifier. This device is supplied in an 8-pin dual-in-line (DIL) package. It has a JFET input stage and produces a typical open-loop voltage gain of 200,000
Operational amplifiers can be thought of as universal “gain blocks” to which external components are added in order to define their function within a circuit. By adding two resistors, we can produce an amplifier having a precisely defined gain. Alternatively, with two resistors and two capacitors we can produce a simple band-pass filter. From this you might begin to suspect that operational amplifiers are really easy to use. The good news is that they are!
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