DISCUSSION:

ACTIVE NON-INVERTING LOW PASS FILTER

Our non-inverting active low pass filter circuit that has a gain of two at low
frequencies, a high frequency cut-off or corner frequency of 400Hz and a capacitor
of 0.47uF. Then, the input impedance is
R=1/(2fcC)= 1/(2(400Hz)(0.47uF))= 846.57
Note that in the actual experimentation, we used 820 because it
gives us the target cut-off frequency for the filter.
The frequency response of our circuit will be the same as that for the passive
RC filter, except that the amplitude of the output is increased by the pass band
gain, AF of the amplifier. For a non-inverting amplifier circuit, the magnitude of the
voltage gain for the filter is given as a function of the feedback resistor ( R2 )
divided by its corresponding input resistor ( R1 ) value and is given as:
DC Gain= 1+ (R2/R1)
The voltage gain of a non-inverting operational amplifier is 2, we assume a value for
resistor R1 of 1k rearranging the formula above gives a value for R2 of 1k.
AF= 1+ (R2/R1) , therefore, 2= 1+ (R2/R1)
The data for the frequency response bode plot can be obtained by
substituting the values obtained above over a frequency range from 100Hz to
1,000Hz into the equation for the first-order low pass filter voltage gain:
Voltage Gain, (Av) = AF/ sqrt.(1+(f/fc)^2)
Where:
AF = the pass band gain of the filter, (1 + R2/R1), which is 2
= the frequency of the input signal in Hertz, (Hz)
c = the cut-off frequency in Hertz, (Hz)

, which is 400Hz

Then this will give us the following data.

Frequency,
( Hz )
10
50
100
200
300
400
500
1,000
3,000

Voltage Gain
( Vo / Vin )
2
1.98
1.94
1.79
1.6
1.41
1.25
0.74
0.26

Gain, (dB)
20log( Vo / Vin )
6.02
5.93
5.76
5.06
4.08
2.98
1.94
-2.61
-11.70

5,000
10,000

0.15
0.07

-16.48
-23.09

The Frequency Response Bode-plot for fc=400Hz

10
6.02 dB

5
0
-5
Gain (dB)

Series 1

-10
-15
-20

fc=400

-25
Frequency (Hz)

-23.09

Thus, the operation of a low pass active filter can be verified from the frequency
gain equation above as:

1. At very low frequencies, < c,: Vout/Vin is approximately equal to AF

2. At the cut-off frequency, = c: Vout/Vin is equal to AF over sqrt.of 2

3. At very high frequencies, > c: Vout/Vin is less than AF

Thus, the Active Low Pass Filter has a constant gain AF from 0Hz to the high
frequency cut-off point, C. At C the gain is 0.707AF, and after C it decreases at a
constant rate as the frequency increases. That is, when the frequency is increased
tenfold (one decade), the voltage gain is divided by 10. In other words, the gain
decreases 20dB (= 20log 10) each time the frequency is increased by 10. When
dealing with filter circuits the magnitude of the pass band gain of the circuit is
generally expressed in decibels or dB as a function of the voltage gain, and this is
defined as:

Av (dB)= 20log(Vout/Vin)

ACTIVE HIGH-PASS FILTER

Our first order active high pass filter has a pass band gain of two and a cut-off
corner frequency of 900Hz. If the input capacitor has a value of 0.47uF, we calculate
the value of the cut-off frequency determining resistor and the gain resistors in the
feedback network. Also, plot the expected frequency response of the filter.
With a cut-off corner frequency given as 900Hz and a capacitor of 0.47uF, the
value of R will therefore be:
R=1/(2fcC)= 1/(2(900Hz)(0.47uF))= 376.253
Note that in the actual experimentation, we used 530 because it gives us
the target cut-off frequency.
The bass-band gain of the filter, AF is 2.
AF= 1+ (R2/R1) , therefore, 2= 1+ (R2/R1)
As the value of resistor, R2 divided by resistor, R1 gives a value of one. Then,
resistor R1 must be equal to resistor R2, since the pass band gain, AF = 2. We can
therefore select a suitable value for the two resistors of say, 1k's each for both
feedback resistors.
The data for the frequency response bode plot can be obtained by
substituting the values obtained above over a frequency range from 100Hz to
100,000Hz into the equation for voltage gain:
Voltage Gain (Av)= Vout/Vin = [AF(f/fc)]/ (sqrt.(1+(f/fc)^2)
Where:
AF = the Pass band Gain of the filter, ( 1 + R2/R1 ), which is 2
= the Frequency of the Input Signal in Hertz, (Hz)
c = the Cut-off Frequency in Hertz, (Hz), which is 900Hz
Then this will give us the following data.
Frequency,
( Hz )

Voltage Gain
( Vo / Vin )

Gain, (dB)
20log( Vo / Vin )

100
0.22
-13.15
200
0.43
-7.33
500
0.97
-0.26
800
1.33
2.48
900
1.41
2.98
1,000
1.49
3.46
3,000
1.92
5.67
5,000
1.97
5.89
10,000
1.99
5.98
50,000
2
6.02
100,000
2
6.02
The frequency response data from the table above can now be plotted as
shown below. In the stop band (from 100Hz to 900Hz), the gain increases at a rate
of 20dB/decade. However, in the pass band after the cut-off frequency, C = 900Hz,
the gain remains constant at 6.02dB. Then the bode plot of the filter circuit will look
like this.

The Frequency Response Bode-plot for fc=900Hz

10
6.02 dB

5
0

Gain (dB)

Series 1
-5

fc=900

-10
-15 -13.15
Frequency (Hz)

Just like the low pass filter, the operation of a high pass active filter can be
verified from the frequency gain equation above as:
1. At very low frequencies, < c: Vout/Vin is less than AF

2. At the cut-off frequency, = c: Vout/Vin is equal to 0.707AF

3. At very high frequencies, > c: Vout/Vin is approximately equal to AF