An ideal operational amplifier has infinite open-loop gain and input impedance, zero output impedance, unlimited response speed and zero input offset voltage and input bias current. Its input currents vanish. In a stable linear circuit with negative feedback and a finite output, its differential input voltage tends to zero as the open-loop gain tends to infinity. Thus and are the familiar conditional circuit rules. The equality of the input voltages cannot be imposed on an open-loop, unstable or saturated circuit.
Input impedance Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-11-05
Input impedance is the ratio of a small applied input-voltage phasor to the resulting input-current phasor, with the output termination and operating point specified. A finite input impedance loads a voltage source. For an ideal operational amplifier the input impedance is infinite, so neither input terminal draws current.
Op amp differentiator 2026-10-25
For an ideal operational amplifier with grounded non-inverting input, connect an input capacitor to the inverting input and a feedback resistor from output to that input. The virtual ground and Kirchhoff's current law give . The ideal response amplifies high-frequency noise, so practical differentiators restrict its operating band and maintain feedback stability.
Op amp integrator Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
An op amp integrator places a resistor between the input source and the inverting input of an operational amplifier, and a feedback capacitor between that input and the output, with the non-inverting input grounded. For an ideal operational amplifier, Kirchhoff's current law gives , hence
The initial capacitor charge supplies the integration constant. A parallel feedback resistor replaces the transfer by : the direct-current gain becomes finite while integration is recovered when . This limits offset-driven saturation. [ref]
Use an ideal operational amplifier with its non-inverting terminal grounded, an input resistor and a feedback capacitor , as in the upper circuit. Stable unsaturated negative feedback holds the inverting terminal at virtual ground, while the input current into the amplifier itself vanishes.
Applying Kirchhoff's current law at the inverting node gives
Thus the circuit is an inverting op amp integrator, with its integration constant set by the initial capacitor charge. A constant input makes the output ramp until a real amplifier reaches a supply rail. A practical low-frequency design usually adds a large feedback resistor to limit drift; the ideal integral relation applies where the feedback capacitor dominates.
Interchange the input and feedback components: put the capacitor between the input and the inverting terminal, and the resistor between the output and the inverting terminal. Keep the non-inverting terminal grounded, as in the lower circuit above. For an ideal operational amplifier under unsaturated negative feedback, the inverting node remains at virtual ground.
The input capacitor current is . It flows through the feedback resistor, giving
This is an inverting op amp differentiator. Its ideal gain magnitude increases with frequency, so it strongly amplifies high-frequency noise. Practical differentiators include components that restrict the useful band and stabilize feedback; that qualification does not change the displayed ideal low-amplitude relation within the operating band.
For an ideal operational amplifier under negative feedback, the grounded non-inverting terminal makes the inverting terminal a virtual ground, and no electric current enters either input. The feedback resistor and capacitor have parallel electrical impedance
Kirchhoff's current law at the inverting node gives , and hence
With the stated components, and . Thus this inverting low-pass amplifier has exactly the same ideal cutoff frequency and normalized frequency response as the passive RC low-pass filter, with output multiplied by :
Its amplitude ratios at the three stated frequencies are , , and . One principal choice of phase shift is : respectively , , and . Adding or subtracting describes the same output; the extra inversion must be retained.
Figure 1.
An inverting amplifier followed by an integrator, with an optional offset-correction branch
. Details.
Use the following arrangement: an inverting operational amplifier with input resistor and feedback resistor , followed by an op amp integrator with input resistor and feedback capacitor . Ground both non-inverting inputs. Each ideal operational amplifier has infinite input impedance, so its inputs draw no electric current; negative feedback makes the inverting input a virtual ground.
Kirchhoff's current law at the first summing junction gives . At the second summing junction it gives . Consequently the two inversions cancel:
The initial output voltage records the initial capacitor charge. A reset switch across sets it to zero. The formula holds while both stages remain within their supply rails; a persistent input voltage otherwise produces amplifier saturation.
An ideal operational amplifier has infinite input impedance, so neither input draws electric current, and zero output impedance, so its prescribed output voltage is independent of the output electric current within the ideal model. These are the two additional assumptions needed here.
An ideal operational amplifier has infinite input impedance and open-loop gain, zero output impedance and no offsets or response limits. Its input currents vanish. Stable operational-amplifier negative feedback, a finite output and unsaturated linear operation then imply a virtual short, . Real amplifiers have finite frequency-dependent gain, input bias currents, offset voltage, output loading, finite bandwidth, slew rate and supply-rail limits. Equal input voltages cannot be assumed in an open-loop or saturated circuit.
Here the noninverting input is grounded. In the ideal-feedback limit the inverting node is a virtual ground, so the resistor current charges the feedback capacitor:
The initial capacitor charge fixes the integration constant. This is an op amp integrator, with .
A tiny direct-current input, input bias current or offset can drive the output towards saturation. A parallel feedback resistor provides a direct-current return path, giving ; choose over the intended integration band. A reset switch sets initial charge; low-offset components and suitable signal amplitude reduce drift and saturation. The useful band must also remain below the amplifier's bandwidth and slew-rate limits.
For the stipulated finite but constant real gain , infinite input impedance and negligible output impedance, write the inverting-node voltage as . With phasors proportional to ,
Therefore
The low-frequency gain is . The corner is ; above it the amplitude falls as and the phase approaches . phase and describe the same low-frequency inversion. This finite-gain circuit is a low-pass response with an integrating high-frequency regime, not an ideal integrator down to zero frequency. A genuinely frequency-dependent would introduce additional high-frequency limitations beyond this specified model.
Figure 1.
Finite-gain integrator response
. Details.
An ideal operational amplifier draws no current at either input. With stable operational-amplifier negative feedback in its unsaturated linear range, infinite open-loop gain also gives a virtual short, . The amplifier adjusts its output to enforce that equality; it is not a conducting connection between the inputs. Here , so the ideal summing node is a virtual ground. Kirchhoff's current law gives , hence the ideal gain is .
For the finite-input-resistance inverting amplifier let the inverting-node voltage be , and continue to neglect output impedance. The controlled output and node-current balance are
Eliminating gives
Dividing the denominator by gives the requested resistance-sum form. The ideal result follows whenever ; taking alone is insufficient if is small. At finite frequency and the gain are phasor ratios, subject to feedback stability.
With equal resistors and sufficiently large loop gain, . This gives a controlled sign reversal or 180-degree phase inversion, useful for subtraction and opposite-phase signal paths, with amplitude set by a resistor ratio rather than uncertain open-loop gain. The source still sees approximately , so this is not a high-input-impedance voltage follower. For the ideal-input, single-pole model, the noise gain of an operational amplifier is two and the closed-loop bandwidth is approximately half the gain-bandwidth product. Output swing, slew rate and load constraints must also permit linear operation.
An ideal operational amplifier has infinite differential open-loop gain, infinite input impedance, zero output impedance and unlimited bandwidth and output capability, and zero input offset voltage and input bias current. In a stable negative-feedback circuit operating linearly, its input currents vanish and . This equality is a feedback consequence, not a rule for a saturated or open-loop amplifier. Here the grounded non-inverting input makes the inverting node a virtual earth.
The inverting two-pole band-pass filter has a series resistor and capacitor input, while the feedback arm is a parallel resistor and capacitor. With Laplace variable ,
Kirchhoff's current law at virtual earth gives the minus sign. Substituting yields
It vanishes at zero and infinite frequency, with low-frequency and high-frequency . Differentiation gives the single maximum
For , the broad interval has . For , the interval instead has . The same rising and falling asymptotes apply outside either plateau.
Figure 1.
Original ideal filter power gains for different time-constant ratios, showing the finite selectivity limit
. Details.
Writing and , the half-power frequencies and quality factor are
Equal time constants give the narrowest fractional pass-band achievable here, with and
This topology cannot make a genuinely sharp, high- band-pass. Its poles are real, and the selectivity bound for a two-real-pole band-pass prevents arbitrarily narrow selection. A more selective resonant filter needs additional circuit structure. The gain above answers the component-ratio question for the sharpest available setting without assuming an impossible limit.
Real amplifiers have finite frequency-dependent gain and phase lag, so virtual earth becomes inaccurate, the response changes and stability must be checked. Gain-bandwidth limits, slew rate for large signals, output loading and amplifier saturation also matter. Component tolerances move the corners; capacitor parasitics, stray capacitance, resistor noise and input noise become significant. The ideal high-frequency tail should not be extrapolated beyond the amplifier and lumped-component operating ranges.
An ideal operational amplifier has infinite differential open-loop gain, infinite input impedance, zero output impedance, unlimited bandwidth and slew rate, and zero input offset voltage, input bias current and intrinsic noise. The idealized model has no finite output-swing or output-current limit.
The usual circuit rules are
The first follows from infinite input impedance. The second follows because a finite output requires as the open-loop gain tends to infinity. It is a virtual equality of potentials, not a conducting connection between the inputs. It cannot be imposed for open-loop operation or after an amplifier reaches its supply rails.
Let be the inverting-input potential. The non-inverting input is grounded, so the ideal operational amplifier rules give and no input current. Kirchhoff's current law at that node therefore gives
Integrating from an initial time ,
This op amp integrator performs inverted time integration; the initial voltage across the capacitor supplies the integration constant. For zero initial conditions its transfer function is . In sinusoidal steady state, with the convention ,
For example, a cosine input produces a negative sine output after its constant component is set. The additional inversion makes the phase modulo , rather than the of non-inverting integration.