DEPARTMENT OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION

ANDHRA PRADESH
Name of the faculty : T.Madhavi Kumari.
Designation : Lecturer.
Branch : Electronics & Communication Engg.
Institute : Govt.Polytechnic ,Vijayawada.
Semester : III Semester.
Subject : Electronics –I.
Subject Code : EE-305.
Topic : Small Signal Amplifiers
Duration : 100 Minutes.
Sub Topic : Frequency response of RC coupled

amplifier.
Teaching aids : PPT, Animations, Waveforms.
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 Recap

Already we discussed about the

Classification of amplifiers

Working of two stage R-C coupled amplifier

EE-305.69to70 2
 Objectives

After the completion of the period student will be

able to know

• The frequency response of RC coupled amplifier.

• Why the gain falls at low frequencies as well as at high

frequencies.

• Why the gain is constant over the mid frequency range.

• The advantages ,disadvantages and applications of

RC coupled amplifier.
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Gain and bandwidth of an amplifier

• Gain: The ratio of output electrical quantity to the

input electrical quantity

• Band width: The range of frequency over which the gain is

equal to or greater than 70.7% of the maximum
gain is known as bandwidth

• Frequency response:
Curve between voltage gain and frequency of an
amplifier

Note: More detail

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Frequency response of R-C coupled amplifier

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Frequency Ranges

• For the purpose of analysis we divide the entire

frequency range into three frequency ranges

• Low frequency range (<50Hz)

• Middle frequency range( 50 to 20KHz)

• High frequency range(> 20KHz)

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FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF RC COUPLED
AMPLIFIER
LOW HIGH FREQUENCY
FREQUENCY FLAT RESPONSE ROLL-OFF
ROLL OFF

G
A
I
N MID FREQUENCY
RANGE

50Hz 20kHz
FREQUENCY
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BANDWIDTH OF RC COUPLED AMPLIFIER
GAIN
LOW HIGH FREQUENCY
FREQUENCY FLAT RESPONSE ROLL-OFF
ROLL OFF
AMax

0.707AMax

MID FREQUENCY
RANGE

BAND WIDTH

f1 50Hz 20kHz f2
EE-305-69 to 70 FREQUENCY
8
Reactance of the capacitor

0 Frequency

Frequency XC=1/2πf C

-jXC

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At Low Frequencies (<50Hz)
• Voltage gain rolls off (decreases)

Components responsible for the fall of gain

Coupling Emitter bypass

capacitor CC capacitor CE

Reactance of
Reactance of CE is high
CC is high
CE cannot shunt the
Very small part of signal emitter resistance RE
will pass from one stage effectively
to the next stage EE-305-69 to 70 10
At High Frequencies (>20KHz)
• Voltage gain rolls off (decreases)

Components responsible for the fall of gain

Coupling Capacitive
capacitor CC reactance of BE
junction

Reactance of
Reactance is
CC is low
low

Increases loading
Which increases the IB
effect of next stage
and serves to reduce this reduces the current
the voltage gain amplification factor β
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Mid Frequency Range (50 Hz To 20KHz)
• Voltage gain is constant (Uniform)

Components responsible for uniform gain

Coupling
capacitor CC

As the frequency
increases reactance
of CC decreases

Lower reactance Large part of

means higher signal is coupled
loading of first to the next stage,
stage and hence gain increases
lower gain Cancel each other,
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uniform gain
Advantages Of RC Coupled Amplifier

• Excellent frequency response (uniform bandwidth over

a wide range of frequencies).

• Inexpensive (It employees resistors and capacitors

which are cheap).

• Very compact.

• It provides less frequency distortion.

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Disadvantages
• Low voltage and current gain.
• Tendency to become noisy with age, in moist climates.
• Impedance matching is poor.

R-C
coupled
amplifier

Out put
Input impedance
impedance is
of speaker is
several hundred
only a few ohms
ohms
Poor impedance matching
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Applications

• RC coupled amplifiers have excellent audio fidelity over a

wide range of frequency, used as a audio amplifier
(to amplify speech or music).

• Used as voltage amplifiers in the initial stages of public

address system.

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Summary

We have discussed about the

• Frequency response of RC coupled amplifier

• Factors affecting the frequency response

• Advantages

• Disadvantages

• Applications
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 QUIZ

1. RC coupling is used for amplifying the

(a) voltage

(b) Current

(c) Power

(d) None of these

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• In an RC coupled amplifier, voltage gain over
mid frequency range

(a) Changes abruptly with frequency

(b) Is constant

(c) Changes uniformly with frequency

(d) None of the above

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1. In the initial stages of a multistage amplifier,
we use

(a) RC coupling

(b) Transformer coupling

(c) Direct coupling

(d) None of the above

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2. RC coupling is not used to amplify extremely
low frequencies because

(a) There is considerable power loss

(b) There is hum in the output

(c) Electrical size of coupling capacitor becomes very

large

(d) Gain is very high

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. Draw the frequency response of R-C coupled amplifier.

2. Explain the frequency response of R-C coupled
amplifier.
3. Explain why the gain falls at high frequencies as well
as at low frequencies?
4. List the advantages and disadvantages of R-C coupled
amplifier.
5. Why does RC coupling give constant gain over mid
frequency range?
6. List the applications of RC coupled amplifier?

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