Experiment 7 Integrators and Differentiators

Aim:- To study the working of Integrators and Differentiators.

The opamp based integrator:-
By placing a capacitor in the feedback path and a resistor at the input,
we obtain the circuit of Fig. 1. Let the input be a time-varying function
vI(t). The virtual ground at the inverting op-amp input causes vI(t) to
appear in effect across R, and thus the current i1(t) will be vI(t)/R. This
current flows through the capacitor C, causing charge to accumulate on
C. If we assume that the circuit begins operation at time t = 0, then at an
arbitrary time t the current i1(t) will have deposited on C a charge equal

. Thus the capacitor voltage vC(t) will change by 0 i1(t)dt .

1 t
to 0 1
t
i (t )dt
C
If the initial voltage on C (at t = 0) is denoted VC, then

C 0 1
1 t
vC (t) VC i (t)dt

Now the output voltage vo(t) = vC(t); thus,

CR0 I
1 t
vo (t) v (t)dtVC

Thus the circuit provides an output voltage that is proportional to the

time integral of the input, with VC being the initial condition of
integration and CR, the integrator time constant. Note that, as expected,
there is a negative sign attached to the output voltage, and thus this
integrator circuit is said to be an inverting integrator. It is also known as
a Miller integrator after an early worker in this field.
 Fig. 1. Integrator circuit
Vo (s) 1
The transfer function of the integrator circuit is given by
VI (s) sRC.
Vo ( j) 1
For physical frequencies, s = j and
VI ( j) jRC

V 1
Thus the integrator transfer function has magnitude V RC and
o

1
phase as +900. Here the frequency int
RC is known as the integrator
frequency.
Observe also that at = 0, the magnitude of the integrator transfer
function is infinite. This indicates that at dc the op amp is operating with
an open loop. Reference to Fig. 1 shows that the feedback element is a
capacitor, and thus at dc, where the capacitor behaves as an open circuit,
there is no negative feedback! This is a very significant observation and
one that indicates a source of problems with the integrator circuit: Any
tiny dc component in the input signal will theoretically produce an
infinite output. Of course, no infinite output voltage results in practice;
rather, the output of the amplifier saturates at a voltage close to the op-
amp positive or negative power supply (V+ or V), depending on the
polarity of the input dc signal.
The dc problem of the integrator circuit can be alleviated by connecting
a resistor RF across the integrator capacitor C, as shown in Fig. 2, and
thus the gain at dc will be RF/R rather than infinite. Such a resistor
provides a dc feedback path. Unfortunately, however, the integration is
no longer ideal, and the lower the value of RF, the less ideal the
integrator circuit becomes. This is because RF causes the frequency of
the integrator pole to move from its ideal location at = 0 to one
determined by the corner frequency (RF,C).
Specifically, the integrator transfer function becomes
Vo (s) RF / R

VI (s) 1 sRFC

Fig. 2. Integrator circuit with a large RF connected in parallel to C to

provide a negative feedback and hence a finite gain at DC.

The lower the value we select for RF, the higher the corner frequency
(1/CRF) will be and the more nonideal the integrator becomes.
The opamp based differentiator:-
Interchanging the location of the capacitor and the resistor of the
integrator circuit results in the circuit in Fig. 3, which performs the
mathematical function of differentiation. To see how this comes about,
let the input be the time-varying function vI(t), and note that the virtual
ground at the inverting input terminal of the op amp causes v I(t) to
appear in effect across the capacitor C. Thus the current through C will
be C(dvI/dt), and this current flows through the feedback resistor R
providing at the op-amp output a voltage vo(t),
dv (t)
vo (t) CR I
dt
The frequency-domain transfer function of the differentiator circuit is
Vo (s)
sCR
VI (s)
CR is known as the differentiator time constant.

Fig. 3. Differentiator circuit

Observations:-
1. The integrator circuit shown in Fig. 1 is designed such that when a
dc input of 1 V is applied, the output vo attains saturation within
10 ms time duration [Assume initial conditions to be zero and at
t=0, vo=0. Also design the circuit taking opamp to be ideal and
operating with a power supply +12V and 10V]. Simulate and
observe this condition in multisim for your particular design. Use
741 for the opamp when performing the simulations with a power
supply +12V and 10V .
2. For the integrator designed previously, i.e. in part 1, a sinusoidal
input of 4V peak to peak amplitude operating at a frequency of
1 kHz was applied as the input. What will be the output peak to
peak amplitude. Observe the output response in Multisim. Place
different resistors (for ex. 10 M, 1 M, 100 k, so on) as RF
and observe the output response. Note if there are any differences
in the output signals.
3. Draw the frequency response of the integrator designed in part 1,
and compare it with the simulated frequency response (from
Multisim).
4. What will be the response of the integrator (part-1) if a square
wave of 0.5 V amplitude, 1 kHz is applied as its input. Observe the
response in Multisim also.
5. Design a differentiator to have a time constant of 10-2 s and an
input capacitance of 0.01 F. What is the gain amplitude and phase
of this circuit at an input frequency of 10 rad/sec and at
1000 rad/sec.
6. If a sinusoidal input of 1 V amplitude at a frequency of
100 rad/sec is applied as an input to the differentiator designed in
part 5, observe the output response vo when simulated in Multisim.
 Note its amplitude and the phase of the output signal with respect
to the input.
7. For the differentiator designed in part 5, if a triangular input having
a peak amplitude of 0.5, 1 kHz is applied, what will be the output
response?