Lab: Sec. 1 - M 3:10-6:00 PM in Rm. 152 Roessler
Sec. 2 - W 3:10-6:00 PM in Rm. 152 Roessler

Instructor: Prof. David E. Pellett, 337 Physics, (530) 752-1783,

Office hours: Tu 5:10-6 PM, Thu 5-6 PM in 116 Lab (152 Roessler) or by appointment.

E-mail: pellett at physics dot ucdavis dot edu (modify the format to use).

TA: Evan Friis, 316 Physics

Office hour: Tuesday 3PM in Room 152 Roessler (116 Lab)

E-mail: friis at physics dot ucdavis dot edu (modify the format to use).

Reader: Jonathan McEvoy

Office hour: Thursdays 4:10-5PM in Room 152 Roessler (116 Lab)

Physics 116A is an introduction to analog electronics. It is valuable for students who want to do experimental work, who want to understand the basis of our omnipresent electronic technology or who want to develop new instrumentation or technology. The course is a prerequisite for Physics 116B, which covers digital electronics and computer fundamentals.

Text: Bobrow, Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering, 2nd ed.

Scope: Material on analog electronics in Ch. 1-10 and Ch. 16 of text by Bobrow.

Lab manual: see links in the chart below. Please download and print a copy each week to bring to lab.

Lab notebook and reports: You will need to keep a clear record of your work in the lab along with the data which you collect. Traditionally, this is done in a bound logbook, although there is a trend toward on-line electronic logbooks for some experiments. For this lab, you will use an 8.5” x 11” loose-leaf notebook of your choice (be sure to bring it to the first lab). This way you can turn in your notes from a given experiment as part of the lab report without losing access to the rest of the logbook. We encourage you to use quadrille-ruled paper (such as the Engineer's Composition Pad available in the bookstore). This simplifies making tables, quick graphs and diagrams. Note that it is best to use only one side of the page with this paper. Each student must keep his/her own logbook, although data sheets can be shared between lab partners via photocopies.

The TA will provide more information on the lab report format, etc. at the first lab.

Lecture Presentation pdf Files: For some lectures, presentations were prepared and projected from my laptop computer. They are linked as pdf files in the chart below in one of the columns labeled "| M | W | F |" with a link shown as "P04" for "Presentation 2004." Beware: these may not be up to date for this year. They may be updated (or new presentations added) following the lecture. If so, the label will be "P05."

Download Class Fact Sheet and Schedule (.pdf format) here.

The .pdf files require Adobe Acrobat 3.0 reader (or later).

• PDF reader download site (Adobe Systems).

RSS Feed: In order to announce updates to the web page due to new homework assignments, solutions, and other announcements, I have instituted an RSS news "feed" for Physics 116. RSS is a convenient protocol for circulating actual news headlines. It is handier than sending frequent e-mail to the class or having you check this web page repeatedly. Some web browsers can display this information and will display "RSS" somewhere in the web address window. Clicking on the symbol will take you to the news information (you may have to reload the page if you have visited it before). For maximum convenience, you need a dedicated RSS news reader. Here is a link to a list of some of them. To get the Physics 116 news feed, you need to enter the following URL: feed://www.physics.ucdavis.edu/Classes/Physics116/rss/Physics116.xml.

Assignment 1: Read Bobrow, Ch. 1, Ch. 2; Problems due in class Wednesday, 10/11/06 (note change of date – see announcements): Ch. 1: 1.7, 1.17(a) [note v_s=v in figure and the use of conductance values (upside down omega = mho = Siemens = 1/Ohm)], 1.18(a), 1.21, 1.23(a), 1.35, 1.42(b), 1.53(a,b), 1.57; Ch. 2: 2.3.

Solutions to Assignment 1 here.

Assignment 2:

Read over Ch.3 for important points: this introduces the capacitor and inductor as linear circuit elements (very important) and the Op Amp differentiator and integrator discussed in class and Lab 2. There is also a review of ODE's (ordinary differential equations) with constant coefficients and damped oscillations in LRC circuits. I say "review" since ODE's are covered in the Math 22 series. Read it over to see the connection between ODE's and circuits. Physics 116A will be concerned mainly with steady state AC circuit response (i.e., for sinusoidal inputs), although we will discuss the natural response of a circuit again in Sec. 5.3 (on complex frequency, s). We will return to the step function and pulse responses of circuits in detail in Physics 116B.

Read 4.1-4.5 to understand the use of complex V, I and impedance, Z, to find the steady state AC response of a circuit. This also includes AC power and rms values of V and I.

Learn how to use phasors and review operations with complex numbers so you can find amplitude and phase relations in AC circuits using the principles from Ch. 1 and 2 as applied to AC circuits (including Thevenin equivalent).

Read 5.1 on frequency response of an RC circuit (needed for Lab 3).

• Example: Thevenin equivalent of DC circuit with dependent source shown in class 10/16/06
• Problems due Wednesday, 10/18/06 (still on DC circuits): Ch. 2: 2.6, 2.11, 2.19, 2.20, 2.27, 2.30, 2.37, 2.39, 2.57.

Solutions to Assignment 2 here.

Assignment 3:

• Read 5.2-5.4:
  • resonance
  • complex frequency, s
  • linear systems with feedback
    (We'll return to feedback near the end of 116A)
• Problems due 10/25/05: Ch. 3: 3.1 (v= v_L), 3.8, 3.15(b,c); Ch. 4: 4.7, 4.9, 4.12, 4.15, 4.18, 4.28(a).

Solutions to Assignment 3 here.

Quiz 1 solution here.

Assignment 4:

• Read 16.1-16.3 and the Lab 4 writeup on SPICE (for lab next week). Also try to get a version of SPICE to work on your home computer (see links below). If you have a Windows machine, WinSPICE should be adequate for this class. Note: SPICE does not have the .PROBE command - this is a feature of PSPICE. See the section on SPICE in the Lab 4 writeup for some information on how to do plots.
• Problems due 11/1/06: Ch. 4: 4.42; Ch. 5: 5.1, 5.8,5.15(a), 5.22, 5.32, 5.39(a,b,c), 5.46(b).
  • Note on Prob. 5.22: Find the resonance frequency using the criterion (for a circuit with at least one capacitor and one inductor) that the imaginary part of the admittance (or impedance) equals zero at resonance. Details in text, p. 276.
• A Note on complex frequency, s:
  • For the following discussion, see if your browser can reproduce Greek characters. This should look like the lower case Greek character, omega: ω. And this should look like a lower case sigma: σ. If another character/font appears, you may have to try to recognize it for what it is supposed to represent.
  • Complex frequency, s=σ+jω, is explained in Sec. 5.3 and example 5.6 of the text. The response of a linear circuit driven by the waveform V_in=V_sexp(st) can be found exactly as was done before for complex sinusoids (V_in=V_sexp(jωt)). Resulting expressions will then have s substituted for jω wherever jω appeared in the sinusoid case. The impedance of an inductor would be Z=sL instead of jωL. For a capacitor, Z=1/(sC). You can do circuit analysis for complex s as was done before with jω but using these impedance relations in terms of s rather than jω.
  • Note that the usual sinusoidal expressions are obtained if we let σ=0 (s=jω, on the imaginary axis in the complex frequency plane). For nonzero σ, we have functions which are sinusoids multiplied by exp(σt). Such sinusoids decay exponentially for σ<0 (s in left half of complex frequency plane) or grow exponentially for σ>0 (s in right half of complex frequency plane).
  • This is useful for characterizing transfer functions H(s) in terms of the locations of their poles and zeros in the complex frequency plane.
  • Illustration: Here is a web page that allows you to place two complex-conjugate poles and two complex-conjugate zeros in the s plane and plot the magnitude and phase of H(s).
  • Here are notes on H(s) and active filters as shown in class (also linked in Outline, above for Monday, Oct. 30).
• An exam is coming Friday, Nov. 3 over material covered in Ch. 1-5 (through end of Sec. 5.4). You may bring one 8.5 in x 11 in sheet of paper with information of your choice to refer to during the exam. Otherwise, it is closed book and notes. Bring a calculator and blank paper to write on.
• Here is a copy of last year's Exam 1 with solutions. It is a good test of your knowledge. You also might try finding H(s) for the circuit of Prob. 4 and the location of the pole.

Solutions to Assignment 4 here

Assignment 5:

• Read Ch. 6 on semiconductors and diodes, excluding pp. 377-81 (on diode logic circuits, left for 116B)
  • Semiconductor fundamentals and diodes will be introduced in class starting Monday, Nov. 7.
• For the Lab: The lab this week gives a "hands-on" introduction to the silicon diode characteristic I–V curve and the use of a diode as a rectifier of AC signals. Read the lab writeup before coming to lab. In the text, the characteristic curve is described in Sec. 6.3. Diode rectifiers are discussed in the beginning of Sec. 6.4. Zener diodes are covered in Sec. 6.6.
• Problems due Wednesday, 11/8/04 Monday, Nov. 13: Ch. 5: 5.18; Ch. 6: 6.2, 6.5, 6.17, 6.19, 6.22(b), 6.55(a) 6.65(a). (Note correction.)

Solutions to Assignment 5 here

Here is a copy of the Midterm Exam with solutions. (modified slightly on 11/13/06)

• Score distribution here for the midterm with approx. letter grade assignments (your course grade is based on your weighted score, not this letter grade directly, although it is useful as a guide).

Assignment 6:

• Read 7.1-7.3, 9.1 (BJT basics and BJT amplifiers) - needed for the lab, week of Nov. 13. Also read the lab writeup before coming to lab.
  • For BJT transistor amplifiers - common collector (or emitter follower), common emitter, common base - covered in Chapter 9,
    • learn how to determine the operating point ("Q point") of a transistor amplifier (BJT biasing);
    • learn about the simple Ebers-Moll and small signal BJT models;
    • learn how to derive the circuit for the small signal AC model of an amplifier from the actual amplifier circuit using an appropriate small signal BJT model;
    • learn how to use the small signal model to derive the amplifier voltage gain, input impedance, output impedance, etc.
• Problems due Wednesday, 11/22/06 (note change in due-date): 7.3(c), 7.10, 9.3, 9.12, 9.15(b), 9.19 plus this problem.
• The quiz has been rescheduled for Friday, Dec. 1. This will allow more time for you to absorb BJT and FET circuit ideas.

Solutions for Assignment 6 here

Assignment 7:

• Read 8.1, 8.2, 9.2 (FET basics and FET amplifiers) - needed for the lab, week of Nov. 21 - also read the lab writeup before coming to lab;
• Problems due Wednesday, 11/29/06: 8.6, 8.8, 8.12, 9.21(use the simple small-signal model for the BJT which has r_e between E and B and the current source h_fei_b between B and C), 9.28, 9.39.

Solutions for Assignment 7 here

Quiz Friday, Dec. 1 over material covered from Ch. 6 through Sec. 9.2 of the text plus lecture notes on semiconductors. You may refer to one 8 1/2" by 11" sheet of notes. Bring your calculator.

• For reference, here is Exam 2 from 2004. The upcoming 25 min. quiz will be shorter and less detailed but will also cover JFETs. Be sure you are up to date on BJT and JFET principles and circuits (including small-signal AC models).

Quiz 2 solutions here

Assignment 8:

• Read 9.3, 9.4, 10.1-10.4.
  • You aren't responsible for the details of the inner workings of the LM741 op-amp in Sec. 10.2 but there are some useful concepts presented, so it is worth reading. Optional: you may be interested in reading Sec. 10.6 about RF communication.
• Read the lab writeup on feedback and oscillation (Week 10) before coming to lab. I will discuss it qualitatively on Monday, Dec. 4.
• Problems due Friday, 12/8/06: 8.40, 9.41, 9.55, 9.56, 10.35, 10.45, 10.58.
  • Some notes on problems:
    • For 10.45, refer to the section on gain-bandwidth product on pp. 689-90; assume that R_L does not affect the amplifier gain
    • For 10.58, as with the Wien bridge oscillator in lab this week, the feedback network connects to the non-inverting input of the amplifier. The Barkhausen condition for oscillation, AB=-1, assumes negative feedback. So we have to provide the minus sign in the definition of B to get this relation. Thus, the expression in the problem should really be B=-(V₁/V₀).

Solutions for Assignment 8 here

Information on lab report deadline, final exam, review sessions/office hours during Finals Week:

• The final exam (Wednesday, Dec. 13 from 10:30-12:30) will cover the entire course but will emphasize material in Ch. 6-10 covered since the midterm exam.
  • Notes: You may bring four 8-1/2 in x 11 in sheets of notes. Otherwise, closed book and notes. Bring your calculator.
  • For review: here is a copy of the final exam and solutions from two years ago.
• Deadline for lab reports: Monday, Dec. 11 at 3 PM (give them to the TA, Evan Friis, at his review session in the 116 Lab).
• Review session/office hours during finals week:
  • TA (Evan Friis): Monday, Dec. 11 from 3-4 PM in the 116 lab (152 Roessler)
  • Instructor (D. Pellett): Tuesday, Dec. 12 from 3-5 PM in the 116 lab (152 Roessler)
• Lecture presentation material from the week of Dec. 3 has been placed in the class outline for Monday, Dec. 4 (as P06) and here. This includes the material discussed on 12/6 and 12/8. The 2004 notes were left up, however (a bit of clean-up was done on pp. 10-11 of the Friday notes from 2004).

The Assignment 6 homework will be due Wednesday, Nov. 22 instead of Monday, Nov. 20
The second quiz has been rescheduled for Friday, Dec. 1 rather than Wednesday, Nov. 22
Assignment 7 has been posted (with homework due Wednesday, Nov. 29).
it includes information about Quiz 2.

12/12/06: Modification made to P. 31 of these notes (about non-required material in Sec. 10.2 of text).

• Harold Black and the Negative-Feedback Amplifier
• Nicola Tesla and the "war of the currents" between Edison.and Westinghouse.
  • PBS documentary on Tesla: home page
• Notes on complex frequency , s, poles of the transfer function, H(s), and Laplace transforms with figures.
• Early "spark gap" transmitters: (a) Spark Transmitters; (b) History of early spark transmitters and simulation of the waveforms of their transmissions.
• A Java simulation of the Kronig-Penney model of wavefunctions in a one-dimensional periodic potential.
• Interesting recent developments:
  • Breakthrough for quantum measurement reported in using the capacitance of Josephson junctions to read out quantum bits.
  • First observation of the spin Hall effect by Awschalom, et al. at UCSB (Published in Science, 11 Nov. 2004). Use of the electron spin in electronic devices ("spintronics") is thought to be an important direction for advances in technology. For example, the spin-dependent giant magnetoresistance (GMR) is used for computer disk read heads.
• Information on SPICE and personal computer versions:
  • SPICE documentation in .pdf form: copyright notice, table of contents, document body
  • General SPICE distribution from Berkeley (various systems: UNIX, MS-DOS, ...)
  • SPICE Linux rpm for i386 (This is 3f4. Rpmfind or Google can also help you find Spice 3f5 for Linux)
  • PSPICE 9.1 Student Version (Windows) file still seems to be available here.
  • WinSPICE: Spice3 for Windows (including XP) from S.C. Wong of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University..
  • MacSpice 3f5 from Charles D.H. Williams, University of Exeter School of Physics. Now for Mac OS X!
• Transistorized!, a PBS program about transistors (explore the various links - includes demo of prototype point contact transistor).
• Some physicists who made inventions or advances in electronics (note that these advanced physics in most cases):
  • John Bardeen with Nobel prizes for the transistor and superconductivity theory;
  • Robert Noyce, co-(but separate) inventor of the integrated circuit (he was awarded the patent but Ted Hoff of Texas Instruments was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2000, too late for Noyce, who died in 1990, to be considered); co-founder of Intel;
  • Bruno Rossi, cosmic ray pioneer and inventor of the Rossi coincidence circuit (first electronic "and");
  • Luis Alvarez, member of inventor hall of fame and Nobel physics laureate (elementary paticle physics).