Amplifier saturation Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-10-20
In amplifier saturation, the requested output lies outside the amplifier's linear operating range, such as when supply rails limit output voltage. The negative feedback virtual short approximation then need not hold. Output swing, current drive and recovery behaviour depend on the device and load; finite slew rate is a separate dynamic limit even when the output has not reached a rail.
Inverting amplifier 2026-10-20
A voltage-feedback operational amplifier with its noninverting input grounded and input and feedback resistances has ideal gain . Virtual short and negligible input current give the result by node-current balance.
Inverting low-pass amplifier 2026-10-20
An ideal operational amplifier with a grounded noninverting input, input resistor , and parallel feedback resistor and capacitor implements a low-pass filter. The virtual short and Kirchhoff's current law give , where . The DC gain magnitude is and the cutoff frequency is . The capacitance reduces high-frequency feedback electrical impedance, causing the gain magnitude to fall.
Past exam of the physics A course of the University of Cambridge 2010 Paper 2 Section D D13 Solution 2026-10-20
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 ,ThereforeThe 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.
Finite-gain integrator response
. Details. Past exam of the physics A course of the University of Cambridge 2011 Paper 2 Section D D13 Solution 2026-10-20
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 areEliminating givesDividing 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.
Past exam of the physics A course of the University of Cambridge 2015 Paper 1 Section A 5 Solution 2026-10-20
negative feedback and the ideal operational amplifier's virtual short hold the inverting node at zero potential, with no current entering either input. The parallel feedback resistor and capacitor have electrical impedanceKirchhoff's current law at the inverting node gives . For the component values read from the circuit,This inverting low-pass amplifier has a DC gain magnitude of 1000 and cutoff frequency Hz. At the corner, . Above it the gain approaches , with in Hz: a slope of on logarithmic axes, or dB per decade on a Bode plot. At Hz the magnitudes are approximately . These are voltage ratios, not decibels.
The ideal voltage-feedback Operational amplifier has zero input currents and, while stable negative feedback holds it in its linear operating range, equal input voltages: and . The first rule follows from infinite input impedance; the second is the large-open-loop-gain limit of . Equal input electric potential is a virtual short, not an electrically conducting connection.
For an inverting amplifier with the noninverting input grounded, and node-current balance gives , hence . For a noninverting amplifier, the feedback divider gives , hence .
Ideal inverting and noninverting negative-feedback configurations
. Source. Details. One should check output swing, input common-mode range, slew rate, Gain-bandwidth product and stability before using these limits in a real circuit. Saturation, positive feedback or operation beyond bandwidth invalidates the equal-voltage rule; finite input bias currents and offset voltage can also matter.[ref]
Operational-amplifier negative feedback by Analog Devices. University electronics course, Chapter 3: high-gain feedback assumptions and practical limits


