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Physics 116A, Fall,
2006

First day attendance, 2006

Lecture: MWF 12:10 PM, Rm. 140 Physics/Geology.

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)

Prospectus
| Assignments
| Announcements
| Links

Last updated Wed, Jan 3, 2007

Prospectus

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."

Physics 116A Fall 2006 Initial Outline

Week

Monday

Topics/Lecture Presentation pdf Files (if available)

M

W

F

Lab (M Sec. 1, W Sec. 2)

0

(Sept 26)

Overview (first day of class Friday, Sept. 29)

(Lab starts Mon., Oct. 2)

1

Oct 2

DC circuits; dependent sources

1: Intro.
to Lab Equipment

2

Oct 9

Ideal op amps; finish DC analysis; start LRC and AC circuit
analysis

P04

P04

P04

2: Op
Amp Applications

3

Oct 16

Freq. response, feedback
25 Min. Quiz 1 Friday, Oct. 20

P04

P04

P04

3: Passive
Components

4

Oct 23

Complex Freqency; H(s)
Semiconductor fundamentals

4: Op-Amp
Resonant Bandpass Filter

5

Oct 30

Diode circuits (omit pp. 377-381)
Exam 1 on Fri., Nov. 3 on
material covered in Ch. 1-5

P06

P04

5: SPICE Analysis of Exp't 4
(see Lab 4 writeup, above)
(May
also start diode lab)

6

Nov 6

Fundamentals of Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) (7.1-7.3 only) and
Field-Effect Transistor (FET) (8.1-8.2 only)
[Friday, Nov. 10:
Veterans' Day holiday–does not affect labs]

P04

6: Diode
Characteristics

7

Nov 13

Transistor amplifiers

P04

P04

P04

7: BJT
and CE Amplifier

8

Nov 20

Frequency response; large signal characteristics
25 Min. Quiz 2
has been moved to the end of next week
[November 23-24:
Thanksgiving Holiday]

8: FET
Current Source, Amp
MPF102
JFET Specifications

9

Nov 27

Differential amplifier and operational amplifier
25 Min. Quiz
2 on Friday, Dec. 1 on material covered from Ch. 6 through Sec. 9.2 in
text (including semiconductor notes).

P04

9: BJT
Differential Amp and Notes on Operation

10

Dec 4

Op amps, feedback and oscillation
[Last class Friday, Dec.
8]

P06

P04

P04m

10: Feedback
and Oscillation

Final Exam Wednesday, Dec. 13, 10:30 AM

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.

Assignments

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 vs=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=
vL), 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
Vin=Vsexp(st) can be found
exactly as was done before for complex sinusoids
(Vin=Vsexp(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 re between E and B and the current source
hfeib 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 RL 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).

Announcements
from the instructor

9/29/06: Welcome to Physics 116!

10/5/06: I must make a last-minute trip to Fermilab to attend part of
a workshop on future upgrades for the CMS particle physics experiment. This
requires me to be away from campus on Monday, Oct. 9. I will introduce nodal
analysis and a simple Operation Amplifier model on Friday (some notes here).
For Monday's class, Evan Friis will lead a class discussion on problems from Ch.
1 and 2 of Bobrow relevant to the first assignment and the first two labs (KCL,
KVL, nodal analysis, op-amp "golden rules"). Homework Assignment 1 will be
due on Wednesday instead of Monday.

10/11/06: Assignment 2 posted, problems due next Wednesday.

10/13/06: Solutions for Assignment 1 have been posted just under the
assignment itself. Also, for Monday, please read the
notes posted for next Monday's lecture before coming to lab. You will need
to make a Bode plot in the lab. This concept is introduced in the notes (and in
the upcoming Monday lecture).

10/17/06:

An example of a Thevenin equiv. of a circuit with a dependent
source (discussed in class Monday) has been posted under Assignment 2, above
(and
here).

I will hold office hours this week on Tuesday from 5:10-6 PM and
Thursday from 5-6 PM in the 116 lab (152 Roessler).

Reminder: there will be a 25 minute quiz at the beginning of
class Friday, 10/20/06. It will cover the material in Chapters 1 and 2
of Bobrow (basic elements and laws, circuit analysis principles). The emphasis
will be on solving problems like the homework.

10/18/06: Solutions for Assignment 2 have been posted just under the
assignment itself.

10/19/06: New assignment posted with problems on AC circuits due
Wednesday, 10/25/05.

10/24/06: Quiz 1 solution posted above. Office hours are (until
further notice) Tu 5:10-6 PM, Thu 5-6 PM in 116 Lab (152 Roessler) or by
appointment.

10/25/06: A new assignment (Assignment 4) has been posted above, due
next Wednesday. There is also information about the upcoming exam.

10/27/06: The web page has been updated with information on the
upcoming exam and poles of H(s).

10/28/06: Solutions to Assignment 3 have been posted under Assignment
3, above.

10/30/06: Correction made to note on poles of H(s): for critically
damped case, should read
H(s)=1/(1+(s/5)2+s/2.5)

10/31/06: New notes on complex frequency, poles and active filters
have been posted in the class outline for Monday, Oct. 30 (called P06).

11/1/06: Solutions for Assignment 4 have been posted above.

11/3/06: Assignment 5 has been posted above.

11/06/06: The problem set for Assignment 5 will be due Monday, Nov.
13 instead of Wednesday, Nov. 8. Some additional problems have been added,
of course. A copy of the Midterm Exam with solutions has been posted at the end
of the Assignment 5 section. The reading assignment for next week has also been
added.

11/10/06: There was a misprint in Assignment 5. The last problem
should have been 6.65(a) (NOT 6.55 (a) - there is no 6.55(a)).
This
assignment requires more than the usual amount of self-study but the text helps
with numerous examples. Thanks for "active learning" on your part.
Some
problems also build on circuit analysis methods from the earlier chapters
applied to diodes. For example, Problem 6.65(a) is similar to Example 6.15 but
easier since the zener current i is specified as i=-10 mA and v = - 12 V (using
the sign conventions in Fig. 6.51). At this point it becomes a DC circuit
problem.

11/13/06: Problem set 6 added, due Monday, 11/20/06.

11/14/06: Solutions for Assignment 5 have been posted above.

11/15/06: The exam score distribution with grade ranges has
been posted under Assignment 5.
Also, some adjustments in the assignment and
quiz schedules were announced in class today, as follows:

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.

11/22/06: Solutions for homework Assignment 6 have been posted under
Assignment 6, above.

11/28/06: More information on Quiz 2 and an old exam have been added
under Assignment 7 above.

11/28/06: A missprint was corrected in the FET notes linked in the
class outline for Wednesday, Nov. 29. On P. 1, the enhancement mode MOSFET
ID vs. VGS curve should be labeled ID =
K(VGS - VT)2 where VT is the
threshold voltage for the enhancement mode MOSFET (plays the role of pinchoff
voltage for JFETs or depletion mode MOSFETS).

11/29/06: The homework solutions for Assignment 7 have been posted
above.

12/1/06: Assignment 8 has been posted above.

12/6/06: The solution for Quiz 2 has been posted under Assignment 7.
The papers were handed back today in class.

12/7/06: Some notes have been added about Assignment 8, Prob. 10. 45
and 10. 48. Also, information on the final exam (including an old final), office
hours/review sessions during finals week and the lab report deadline has been
posted at
the end of Assignment 8, above.

12/11/06: Solutions for Problem Set 8 have been posted under
Assignment 8, above.

12/11/06: Lecture presentation material from the last week of class
has been posted under Assignment 8, above, and in the class outline.

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

Links to topics of interest

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).

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