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Have set up a voltage divider inputting 1 volt into a LM741 op amp to act as a voltage follower. For some reason I get 2 volts at the output. Have checked everything I can think of and can’t figure out why.

bigshop
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    WHY are people still using the LM741? It was old and out-specced by 10-cent op-amps in 1990! – Connor Wolf Dec 23 '13 at 02:56
  • [What's the uA741's appeal?](http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/8253/whats-the-ua741s-appeal) – RedGrittyBrick Dec 23 '13 at 13:24
  • Because as a beginner I saw it in just about every book and beginner type article so that's what I used. Now I know its not the correct type for me I have moved on – bigshop Feb 24 '14 at 18:52

1 Answers1

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This is an easy problem to understand if you look at the datasheet.

LM741 electrical characteristicsThe LM741 needs headroom at each rail to operate. What this is saying is for +/- 15V supplies, the output could swing as little as +/- 12V. If you're running it single supply like that, I guarantee it's slamming the negative rail. Upgrade to a modern op amp. For this application, I would look for something CMOS with a rail to rail output. A couple examples: TLC2272, LMC6462.

Matt Young
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  • Thanks for your reply. Im very much a beginner so could you expand on your answer some more. Can you suggest what better type of op-amp I might look at?. Im using this to reduce the voltages going into my daq card. – bigshop Dec 23 '13 at 02:16
  • Then take the op amp out entirely. Your DAQ card most likely has a high impedance input. – Matt Young Dec 23 '13 at 02:24
  • My daq card is only 144k input impedance and it loads the signal too much that's why I need to add the follower. – bigshop Dec 23 '13 at 02:30
  • And what are you using for R1 and R2? – Matt Young Dec 23 '13 at 02:31
  • R1 = 1meg, R2 = 11k – bigshop Dec 23 '13 at 02:33
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    You should really edit this question to reflect what you're actually trying to do. There is probably a better way to do this than attenuating a signal by a factor of 100. – Matt Young Dec 23 '13 at 02:39
  • Describe the signal. It is an AC that swings around 10V? How big are the swings? This circuit can be rescued: you can scale the signal to the appropriate lower level you want, **and** make it swing around some voltage higher than 1V so that the swings are within the input range of the op-amp. Does your signal need to be DC-coupled? – Kaz Dec 23 '13 at 03:06
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    Im measuring DC signals. Have changed my resistors now to attenuate 10:1. After reading Matt Young answers I now see why my circuit would not work. I now know I have the wrong type of op-amp for my application. By changing the power supply to the current op-amp to +10v and -10v I can now get the expected result. – bigshop Dec 23 '13 at 05:29