OPAMP AND ITS APPLICATION NUMERICAL PROBLEM | FEE | LECTURE 02 BY DR. GAURAV SAXENA | AKGEC

OPAMP AND ITS APPLICATION NUMERICAL PROBLEM | FEE | LECTURE 02 BY DR. GAURAV SAXENA | AKGEC

🎙 Dr. Gaurav Saxena (AKGEC Digital School) 👥 23K 📅 October 8, 2026 ⏱ 19 min 👁 11 📄 tutorial 🧭 2026-10-09
Available in: English (current) Français

Keywords

operational amplifiersumming amplifierCMRRideal op-ampcascaded amplifiers

Summary

This is the second lecture of a Fundamentals of Electronics Engineering course delivered by Dr. Gaurav Saxena of Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering College, devoted to numerical problems on operational amplifiers and their applications. The session opens with a mixed summing amplifier problem, solved by applying Kirchhoff’s current law at two nodes under the ideal op-amp assumption (zero bias current, virtual ground, infinite CMRR). The lecturer assigns a node voltage Vx, writes the current balance I1 + I2 = I3 at the first node, obtains Vx = 11/3 ≈ 3.66 V, then repeats the procedure at the second node to derive the output voltage. The second part is descriptive: the definition of the common-mode rejection ratio as the ratio of differential gain to common-mode gain, expressed in decibels via 20 log10(Ad/Ac), followed by a list of ideal op-amp characteristics — infinite input impedance, zero output impedance, infinite open-loop gain, infinite CMRR, infinite slew rate, infinite bandwidth, and zero PSRR. The final problem concerns a cascaded circuit combining an inverting amplifier, an inverting summing amplifier and a difference amplifier; the lecturer computes the first stage output as −6 V using −Rf/Ra·Vi, then sets up the summing stage and the final difference stage with the relation Vo = (R2/R1)(V1 − V2). The treatment is procedural and exam-oriented, with values announced orally and several numerical inconsistencies left uncorrected.

224 words

Critical Evaluation

Value of the Information & Strength of the Argument

The informational value lies in the demonstration of a repeatable problem-solving procedure rather than in any new result. The lecturer shows how to reduce a multi-source op-amp network to a pair of node equations, which is the standard and pedagogically useful route: assume an ideal device, invoke the virtual ground, write KCL at each node, cancel the common resistance, and solve. The argumentation is deductive and self-consistent in its structure — each step follows from the previous one, and the choice of method is justified by the stated assumptions (no bias current, infinite CMRR, ideal device). The weakness is in execution rather than in logic: the numerical substitutions are spoken quickly and inconsistently, with resistor values that shift between the statement of the formula and its evaluation, and the final output voltage is never explicitly stated as a clean number. The descriptive segment on CMRR and ideal op-amp characteristics is a correct but purely textbook enumeration, delivered without derivation or physical intuition, and it contains at least one clear error in units (CMRR described in degrees rather than decibels) and one questionable claim (PSRR of an ideal op-amp stated as zero). The cascaded-amplifier problem is the most valuable part, because it forces the student to identify the function of each stage before computing, which is the actual skill being trained. Overall the argumentation is sound in method, weak in numerical rigour, and offers no critical discussion of when the ideal model breaks down.

Scientific Rigor, Source Quality, Title Accuracy

No external sources, textbooks, datasheets or references are cited at any point; the only links in the description are the college website and the course playlist, which are institutional and navigational rather than documentary. The scientific content therefore rests entirely on the lecturer’s authority and on the standardness of the material, which is genuinely standard — Kirchhoff’s law, the virtual-ground approximation and the ideal op-amp parameter list are uncontroversial and can be found in any introductory analog electronics text. The rigour problem is not conceptual but presentational: quantities are announced with slips (‘CMRR should be 90°’, ‘PSRR is zero’), the decibel formula is written as ‘20 log base 10 A by AC’ without clearly distinguishing Ad from Ac, and the numerical evaluations are not checked against a final answer. The title-to-content match is good: the video does consist of op-amp application numericals, and the lecture number and course context are correctly stated, though roughly a third of the runtime is a descriptive question rather than a numerical one.

426 words

Title / Content Match

The title accurately announces numerical op-amp application problems, and the video does solve such problems, although it also spends a substantial block on a purely descriptive question about CMRR and ideal op-amp characteristics.

Quality & Reliability

6/10

The lecture is delivered by a named faculty member of an accredited engineering college and relies on standard, well-established circuit-analysis methods (Kirchhoff's current law, virtual ground, ideal op-amp assumptions). The technical content is orthodox and internally consistent, but the presentation is improvised and contains several slips (e.g. 'CMRR should be 90°', 'PSRR is zero', inconsistent resistor values between the stated and computed expressions), and no external references or textbook citations are given. Reliability is therefore moderate: the method is sound, the execution is imprecise.

Key Moments

Cited Sources

Concurring Sources

  • Operational amplifier — Wikipedia — Confirms the ideal op-amp assumptions (infinite input impedance, zero output impedance, infinite open-loop gain) and the standard inverting, summing and difference amplifier configurations used in the lecture.
  • Common-mode rejection ratio — Wikipedia — Confirms the definition of CMRR as the ratio of differential gain to common-mode gain and its expression in decibels, matching the lecturer's presentation.

Dissenting Sources

  • Slew rate — Wikipedia — The lecture states that the slew rate of an ideal op-amp is infinite, which is a conventional idealisation, but real devices are limited by internal bias currents and compensation capacitors; the lecture gives no indication of this practical limitation, which could mislead students applying the ideal model to real circuits.

Contribution & Novelties

The video offers no original research or novel result; its contribution is purely pedagogical, consisting of worked solutions to standard op-amp application problems of the kind found in university examinations. Its distinctive value, if any, is the explicit demonstration of a two-node KCL strategy for a mixed summing amplifier with sources on both the inverting and non-inverting sides, followed by a staged decomposition of a cascaded circuit into inverting, summing and difference blocks. This is useful exam preparation but adds nothing to the established body of knowledge on operational amplifiers.

Pour aller plus loin :

  • Operational amplifier — General reference on op-amp theory, ideal-device model and applications.
  • Common-mode rejection ratio — Directly relevant to the descriptive question treated in the lecture, including the decibel definition.
  • Kirchhoff’s circuit laws — The analytical tool used throughout the numerical solutions.
  • Slew rate — One of the ideal op-amp characteristics enumerated, worth consulting for the real-device limitations the lecture omits.
  • Sedra & Smith, Microelectronic Circuits — Standard textbook covering all the material presented here, including the ideal op-amp parameter list and summing/difference amplifier configurations.

180 words

Radar Profile

The profile is that of a standard undergraduate lecture: moderate information density and technical level, with reliability resting on the orthodoxy of the material rather than on cited evidence. The quality score is held down by numerical slips and unit errors, while the technical level reflects introductory circuit analysis rather than advanced analog design.

Reliability 6/10