User talk:Daveparker01

You wrote on the opamp talk page: I'm an interested know-nothing in this field (though I am a software engineer, so I am capable of some technical understanding) and I have to say this article kind of stunned me with foreign language and detail right off the bat. I found the "common applications" page and then found this one that simply said "Compares two voltages and outputs one of two states depending on which is greater" aside a diagram that shows two separate inputs and an output. Is that what an op amp does? If so, perhaps that phrase would be a candidate for inclusion in the opening paragraph? It's very concise and lays some groundwork for a novice that (for me anyway) was very helpful SVDasein

An opamp is not a two state device - what you have quoted is the description of a comparator, one of many applications which use opamps. An opamp is simply a voltage amplifier that greatly (ideally infinitely) amplifies the voltage difference (only) between its input terminals. The opamp inputs require very low (ideally zero) current and the opamp output can provide significant (ideally infinite) current to the next circuit or load (e.g., a speaker). In most cases, the output of the opamp is connected somehow to the negative input. This is called negative feedback. Negative feedback allows us to use the opamp as a linear amplifier. If instead, the opamp output is connected to the positive input, this is called positive feedback. With positive feedback, the opamp is used for some nonlinear application like the comparator you quoted above. Alfred Centauri 03:53, 5 April 2007 (UTC)