EEEB1021 / EEEB111

ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS

MEASUREMENT LABORATORY

Experiment 7:
Cascaded Op Amp Circuit

EEEB1021 / EEEB111 ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS MEASUREMENT LABORATORY - UNITEN Exp. 7, Page 1/8
 EXPERIMENT 7

Cascaded Op Amp Circuit

Assessed OBE Course Objectives: CO2, CO4, C05, C07 and CO8

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this laboratory experiment is to design a cascaded amplifier using ideal operational
amplifier circuits.

INTRODUCTION

A cascade connection is a head-to-tail arrangement of two or more operational amplifier (op amp)
circuits such that the output of one is the input of the next.

When op amp circuits are cascaded, each circuit in the string is called a stage; the original input signal
is increased by the gain of the individual stage.

Figure 7.1 displays a block diagram representation of two op amp circuits in cascade.

Figure 7.1: A two-stage cascaded connection

Since the output of one stage is the input to the next stage, the overall gain of the cascade connection is
the product of the gains of the individual op amp circuits.

For this circuit, the overall gain, A is given by

𝐴 = 𝐴1 × 𝐴2

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Example:

Cascaded inverting and non-inverting amplifiers

In Figure 7.2, an inverting amplifier circuit (Stage 1) is cascaded to a non-inverting amplifier circuit
(Stage 2).

Stage 1 Amplifier Stage 2 Amplifier

Rf1 Rf2

15V 15V
Ri1 Ri2
Vi1 2 2
7 - 7
- Vo2
3 uA741 6 uA741 6
3
+ +
4 Vo1 = Vi2 4
-15V -15V

Figure 7.2: Example of a two-stage cascaded op-amp circuit

The overall gain, A would be

𝐴 = 𝐴1 × 𝐴2

where

𝑉𝑜1 𝑅
 for Stage 1 inverting op amp, gain 𝐴1 =
𝑉𝑖1
= − 𝑅𝑓1
𝑖1

𝑉 𝑅𝑓2
 for Stage 2 non-inverting op amp, gain 𝐴2 = 𝑉𝑜2 = (1 + )
𝑖2 𝑅𝑖2

Note that Vi1 is the input voltage and Vo2 is the voltage output of the cascaded amplifier.

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PRE LAB: LTspice Simulation Assignment

DESIGN a cascaded amplifier circuit that consists of a series connected inverting and a non-
inverting operational amplifier circuits.

Table 7.1 lists the designated overall gain for the cascaded op amp, according to workbench number.

Use ONLY the resistors listed in the lab’s Equipment list for the LTspice computational analysis.

Table 7.1: Designated overall gain value for LTspice

Workbench Number
Overall #01 #02 #03 #04 #05 #06 #07 #08
Gain, A - 1.5 - 3.5 - 5.5 - 7.5 - 9.5 - 11.5 - 3.5 - 2.5

Workbench Number
Overall #09 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15
Gain, A - 4.5 - 6.5 - 8.5 - 10.5 - 12.5 -5 -8

Make your own assumptions of Ri, Rf, Vi, Vo and frequency values. Support your result with a
calculation analysis.

Use LTspice to simulate for the design circuit.

Refer to Appendix 3 “LTspice Schematic Entry and Transient Analysis” as a guide for the simulation.

A successful LTspice simulation would indicate that the cascaded op amp design is correct i.e. design
validation.

The following LTspice simulation should be PRINTED in preparation for Lab 7. Marks will be given
for this Pre-Lab printouts.
i) Schematic diagram and netlist of the designed circuit with suitable transient time setting.
ii) Input and output voltage waveforms for Stage 1 amplifier, calculate Stage 1 gain, 𝐴1 .
iii) Input and output voltage waveforms for Stage 2 amplifier, calculate Stage 2 gain, 𝐴2 .
iv) Input and output voltage waveforms for the cascaded amplifier (i.e. series connected Stage 1
and Stage 2 amplifier circuits), calculate overall gain, 𝐴.

Calculation of each gain i.e. 𝐴1 , 𝐴2 and 𝐴 must be shown on its relevant printed input and output
waveforms.

If printing is done in black and white, LABEL the input and output voltage waveforms.

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 UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
College of Engineering
Semester: I / II / Special Academic Year: 20 ….. / 20 …..

COURSE CODE: EEEB1021 / EEEB111 EXPERIMENT NO: 7

LAB INSTRUCTOR: DATE: TIME:
TITLE: Cascaded Op Amp Circuit
OBJECTIVES:
The objective of this laboratory experiment is to design a cascaded amplifier using series connected ideal
operational amplifier circuits.

MARKS:
PRE LAB: LTspice Simulation Assignment (3%)

The results must consist of:

a) Schematic Diagram /5
b) Netlist /2
c) Suitable transient time setting /2
d) Input and output voltage waveforms for Stage 1 amplifier /5
e) Input and output voltage waveforms for Stage 2 amplifier /5
f) Input and output voltage waveforms for Cascade amplifier /5
g) Stage 1, Stage 2 and Overall gains /6

TOTAL: /30

POST LAB: Long Report (6%)

The long report must consist of:

a) Objectives, introduction and equipment /5

b) Procedures /5
c) Results which consist of input, Vi and output, Vo waveforms, table of Ri,
Rf etc. – (from the experiment NOT from simulation.) /6
d) Calculations, Analysis and Discussions /6
e) Conclusions /3
f) Discussions on sustainable applications of operational amplifier /5

** Any form of COPYING or PLAGIARISM in the Long Report will result in ZERO TOTAL: /30
‘0’ marks. **

STUDENT NAME 1: ID: SECTION:

STUDENT NAME 2: ID:

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LAB: EXPERIMENTAL

Validate the designed cascaded op amp circuit, which was simulated using LTspice, with results
obtained for laboratory experiment. This is and OPEN ENDED laboratory experiment, therefore
students are expected to construct the circuit and do the necessary experiment without any written
procedures given.

EQUIPMENT
1. Resistors that may be used: 100Ω, 180Ω, 220Ω, 330Ω, 1kΩ, 2.2kΩ, 3.3kΩ, 4.7kΩ, 6.8kΩ,
10kΩ, 22kΩ, 33kΩ, 47kΩ, 68kΩ, 100kΩ, 180kΩ, 1.2MΩ
2. Operational Amplifiers (A741) – 2 nos.
3. Digital Multimeter (DMM) with probes
4. Oscilloscope with probes
5. Function Generator with BNC-Crocodile Clips Probe
6. DC Power Supply with Crocodile Clips Connectors
7. Protoboard
8. Wires 22 AWG

POST LAB: LONG REPORT

Student & lab partner are required to prepare a long report for the lab experiment.

The long report must consist of the followings:

a) Cover page
b) Objectives
c) Introduction
d) Equipment
e) Procedures
f) Results which consist of Ri, Rf and frequency values, Vi and Vo waveforms, tables etc.
g) Calculations, Analysis and Discussions
h) Conclusions
i) Discussions on sustainable applications of operational amplifier

** Any form of COPYING or PLAGIARISM in the Long Report will result in ZERO ‘0’ marks. **

PLEASE ATTACH the above Marking Scheme page (pg. 5) before the long report’s Cover page.

a) Cover page:
i) the title of the experiment,
ii) the date on which the experiment was performed,
iii) names and student’s IDs of the group members
iv) section number

b) Objectives:
The report should state why the experiment is conducted. Generally, the purpose of the experiment
is to confirm or disprove a hypothesis. For educational experiment, the purpose is usually to validate
an establish theory.
For example:
“The objectives of this lab are to learn about the basics of common ideal operational amplifier
(op-amp) circuits, to simulate in LTspice and experimentally measure the output voltages of
basic op-amp circuits of inverting, non-inverting and summing amplifiers, and compare between
the simulated and experimentally measured results.”

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c) Introduction:
The report should include a general introduction on the theory and application of the experiment.
It should include figures and mathematical formulae relating to the experiment.

d) Equipment:
The report should list the components and equipment to be used in the experiment.

e) Procedure:
i) The procedure should briefly state the important steps of the experiment.
ii) DO NOT copy word by word procedure mentioned in the lab manual.
- Read and re-write or paraphrase the instruction in your own words.
- For example, the instruction “a. Obtain 2 quarter watt resistors from your instructors,
designated as R1 and R2. b. Measure resistance with the DMM and record the values in
Table 3.1” can be summarized to “The resistance of two quarter watt resistors designated
as R1 and R2 has been measured using DMM and the value is recorded in Table 3.1”.
iii) The purpose must be written in passive sentences.
- For example, rather than using the sentence “The student has measure the voltage of ….”,
it should be “ The voltage of …. has been measured”.

f) Results:
This part should only contain the data or results obtained from experiment. No calculation or other
analysis should be included such as calculation of percentage of error. Tabulate results or include
figures or waveforms if required.

g) Calculations and Analysis:

The data obtained from the experiment should be analysed to meet the objectives of the experiment.
Calculations need to be shown to compare between LTspice simulated results and measured
experimental results. The comparisons should show minimal percentage errors, to validate the
objectives.

h) Discussions:
The experiment involves validation, therefore suggestion of the reason that might contribute to error
must be discussed. The reason should be specified rather than mentioning a general cause i.e. “Faulty
equipment” it should be “…the loading effect of the ammeter has caused a decrease in the measured
current”. Suggest also how to eliminate or minimize the error.

i) Conclusions:
Mention whether the purpose of the experiment to validate the theory that explain the relationship
between the manipulated variable and responding variable has been validated or not. Mention to
what range of accuracy it has been validated.

j) Sustainability and sustainable applications of operational amplifier:

i) Define Sustainability in terms of the applications of operational amplifiers. [3 marks]

Student needs to refer the definition from at least 2 papers cited from IEEE
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org or Science Direct http://www.sciencedirect.com

Format for citation: Authors, paper title, journal/ conference, page numbers, year
published. For example: I. S. Mustafa, S. Sulaiman et al., “Sustainable applications of
operational amplifiers in terms of manufacturing material”, 2017 IEEE 11th International
Conference on Electronics Sustainability, pp. 983–986, 2017.

ii) List and briefly explain two (2) ways to prevent the burnout of operational amplifiers during
lab experiment. [2 marks]

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 EEEB111: LONG REPORT MARKING SCHEME
Marks given 1 2 3 4 5 Total
Criteria Poor Acceptable Excellent Marks
Objectives, No relevancy Some relevancy Relevant contents /5
introduction & - No background - Some introductory - Introduction is
equipment information information complete and
- Information is - Missing some well-written.
incorrect. major points. - Information has
- Objectives are not - Objectives are not all theoretical
stated. clearly stated. principles
- Objectives are
clearly stated.
Procedures Inadequate Sufficient Accomplished /5
- Procedure is - Procedure is - Procedure is a
missing copied mainly from summary of each
- Procedure is lab description or of the steps taken
missing important Lab 6, with little in completing the
steps. attempt at lab.
paraphrasing.
Results: Unorganized Fairly organized Well organized /6
data, figures, - Figures, graphs, - Most data, figures, - All data, figures,
graphs, tables, tables contain graphs, tables are graphs, tables are
etc. errors or are poorly shown correctly drawn,
shown. - Results still are numbered and
- Missing/ incorrect missing important have correct titles/
titles, captions or or required captions.
numbers, units are features.
missing/ incorrect.
Calculations, Inadequate Sufficient Accomplished /6
Analysis and - Incomplete or - Some of the results - All relevant trends
Discussions incorrect have been and data
interpretation of correctly comparisons have
trends. interpreted and been interpreted
- Comparison of data discussed. correctly and
indicating a lack of - Partial discussed.
understanding of understanding of - Good
results. results is still understanding of
evident. results is
conveyed.
Conclusions Inadequate Sufficient Accomplished /3
- Conclusions - Conclusions - Conclusions
missing adequate, clearly conclude
- Conclusions - Conclusions not experimental
conflicting with conflicting with results
experimental experimental - Conclusions are
results and/ or lab findings, but fails aligned with lab
objectives. to address lab objectives.
objectives.
Sustainability Definition of Sustainability [3 marks] + Applications [2 marks] /5
TOTAL MARKS /30

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