44
votes
Accepted
What's the intuition for reading transistor/resistor circuits?
What's a step by step way of thinking about the flow of electrons in such a circuit? How can we tell it would provide constant current for instance?
The first step is to forget about flow of ...
- 159k
33
votes
Accepted
Choosing resistor values for inverting amplifier and why?
There are downfalls with choosing very large resistors and very small resistors. These usually deal with the non-ideal behavior of components (namely Op-Amps), or other design requirements such as ...
- 16.2k
22
votes
Accepted
What's the point of a current source?
The current in any 2 terminal device is always the same, there's no way for a 2 terminal device to provide "extra" current. You can't have 0A in and 4A out.
What it does do is force the current to ...
- 19.5k
19
votes
Accepted
What are some practical examples of a constant current source?
Photovoltaic cells and betavoltaic cells are examples of devices that produce more-or-less constant current up to some maximum open-circuit voltage, just as a battery produces more-or-less constant ...
- 328k
18
votes
Accepted
op amp+mosfet = current source.Why do we need a feedback resistor?
R2 (10k R4 in my diagram) is there to form together with C1 (1nF capacitor) a Miller Integrator to prevent unwanted oscillation.
And yes, this circuit will sometimes oscillate, mainly due to poor PCB/...
- 12.3k
16
votes
Accepted
How does this constant current sink actually work?
The circuit employs negative feedback and utilizes the very high gain of the op amp. The op amp will try to keep its non-inverting and inverting inputs at the same voltage \$V_{\text{set}}\$ due to ...
- 6,961
15
votes
What's the point of a current source?
A current source is a voltage source which - in ideal circumstances - creates as much voltage as needed for the specified current to flow. Think of it as a power supply with an adjustable voltage and ...
- 317
15
votes
Why are current sources not drawn explicitly in the datasheets' schematic diagrams?
Most likely just to simplify the schematic. They would likely be implemented with various scaled and interconnected current mirrors as well as some sort of reference current generation circuit. One ...
- 39.6k
13
votes
Reversed DIP Switch
This is what your circuit looks like:
simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
When you close the DIPSW the LED will be shorted thus the current will flow through the DIPSW ...
- 16.5k
13
votes
What's the intuition for reading transistor/resistor circuits?
What's the intuition for reading transistor/resistor circuits?
More precisely speaking, "reading" means "understanding" here. So, the question is, "How do we intuitively ...
- 9,181
12
votes
Do constant current batteries exist?
Do constant current batteries exist?
["Battery" used for "cell" in many places below]
Essentially, no.
A battery could easily be made that had that characteristic by adding electronics in the ...
- 142k
12
votes
Accepted
I don't understand current source, voltage source, infinite resistance, zero resistance etc
If something has infinite resistance wouldn't nothing happen because everything is blocked?
I also don't understand what an "open circuit" really means (to my eye it just looks like a ...
- 46.4k
12
votes
Why do PNP transistors source current and NPN transistors sink it?
Have you ever heard of an emitter follower?
An NPN transistor connected in the emitter follower configuration sources current:
This figure is from the Wikipedia page on the common collector (emitter ...
- 57.7k
11
votes
Accepted
Do constant current batteries exist?
Russell is bang-on for conventional electrochemical batteries, AFAIK, which makes sense because electrochemistry works on voltages.
However, there is something that is considered a battery that ...
- 328k
11
votes
How do we create current sources?
Constant current sources ... there are no such devices in nature; almost all of sources are (constant) voltage sources. So we have to make them.
I think you are correct. Due to physics chemical ...
- 159k
10
votes
Highly accurate constant current source
I can speak from some small experiences on a part of this. I'll leave the "highly constant and highly stable" current source design to those who know this better than I. But I was involved in creating ...
- 69.1k
10
votes
Accepted
Tube cathode biasing with CCS
The 12AX7 double triode is connected as a differential amplifier (long-tailed pair). In the Wikipedia article you see a similar circuit implemented with BJTs, but the principle is the same: consider ...
10
votes
Accepted
Why is my transistor beta lower than expected?
The beta value you are getting is rather typical for a transistor in reverse active mode. That is, using the collector as an emitter.
Assuming every thing else is ok (vendor, supplier, and ...
- 8,146
9
votes
Accepted
PIC Micro - Can I use both sinking and sourcing maximum current ratings if some pins sink while others source?
The maximum ratings are usually about two things, broadly speaking. One is about local dissipation -- the port pins are often arranged near each other on the die and if you dissipate too much in a ...
- 69.1k
9
votes
Accepted
LM317 intermittent current source
To drive 50 mA through 330 ohms, you need 16.5 V.
For 50 mA through 1330 ohms you need 66.5 V.
In the constant current mode, the maximum output voltage of the LM317 circuit is \$V_{in} - 3\ {\rm V} ...
- 121k
9
votes
How can I make a current source that can supply 1uA?
D2 generates a stable voltage, while the forward voltage of Q1 varies with temperature (by about -2 mV/deg. C). You can compensate for this by putting a standard diode in series with D2 -- e.g. a ...
- 328k
9
votes
Accepted
Why do PNP transistors source current and NPN transistors sink it?
This is because it's more typical to connect the load to the collector. You can use the emitter as an output, but that has certain limitations...the voltage gain will always be 1 in an analog emitter ...
9
votes
Accepted
Question about electrical power in circuits
By example I can demonstrate how a current source can both absorb and emit energy. Take this simple circuit consisting of a single voltage source (a battery) and a resistor:
simulate this circuit &...
- 7,130
9
votes
Accepted
Current source with MOSFET
In my understanding the 1K along with the 200pF create an integrator
topology to provide some stability
Correct and, particularly when using a MOSFET in these configurations there can be a ...
- 380k
8
votes
Accepted
Source Transformation of dependent sources
Since this is quite within reach I will try to go through the whole story.
Let's take a generic network N and spot one generator (either current or voltage), for now we will not consider it as ...
- 2,843
8
votes
Choosing resistor values for inverting amplifier and why?
In your specific op-amp circuit, the voltage on junction of Rf and Rin is the same as the voltage on the non-inverting input. This has to be so - it's called a virtual earth. Given that fact, this ...
- 380k
8
votes
Accepted
PSU Current on negative line
It would probably make more sense if the label were adjusted sligthly:
Those -5V and -12V outputs really are negative voltages (not the ground returns for +5V and +12V) and they do sink current.
- 13.2k
8
votes
How does Stitching capacitor provide shortest return current path between plane splits, as we know that it blocks DC current?
We're only talking about high frequencies here. If there is a DC connection, then there would be no need to split a plane. If you split the plane there is a loop created that has some area. That means ...
- 328k
8
votes
op amp+mosfet = current source.Why do we need a feedback resistor?
You don't need a feedback resistor and neither do you need C1. I guess the "designer" has some strange perception that the circuit will oscillate without them but it won't.
Oscillation will occur if ...
- 380k
8
votes
How to make a constant current sink in the pA-nA range
Linear have a Precision Nanoamp Bidirectional Current Source application note that may be of interest.
Figure 1. This circuit sources and sinks just nanoamps of current with precision due to the low ...
- 159k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible