Sir Syed CASE Institute of Technology, Islamabad

EE332L Electronic Design and Practice (5Th Semester)

Sir Syed CASE Institute of Technology, Islamabad

Electronics Lab

Electronic Design & Practice Lab

Experiment No.02: BJT as a Class A Amplifier

Name of Student: ……………………………………………………..

Roll No.: ……………………………………………………………….

Class Section: …………………………………………………………

Date of Experiment: ………………………………………………….

Report submitted on: …………………………………………………

Marks obtained: …………………………………

Instructor’s Signature: …………………………..

Experiment No.02: BJT as a Class A Amplifier Page|1

 Sir Syed CASE Institute of Technology, Islamabad
EE332L Electronic Design and Practice (5Th Semester)
Objectives
1. To perform DC and AC analysis of CE amplifier.
2. To determine input impedance (𝑍𝑖 ) and output impedance (𝑍𝑜 )
3. voltage gain (𝐴𝑣 ) and current gain (𝐴𝑖 ) for common emitter amplifier configuration
4. Class A Amplifier

Background Information
Transistors are utilized for three main purposes: amplification, oscillation, and switching.
Amplification is commonly accomplished by electronic circuits called amplifiers, which
are used to increase signal power by increasing the voltage and/or current of the given
signal. A signal may be defined as a time-varying voltage representing some useful function
and performing some specific task.

In order to use a transistor as an amplifier, it is biased in its active region – and that too
close to the center of the DC load line, i.e. mid-point biased. This gives more room for the
output signal swing without taking the transistor in cut-off or saturation. In addition the
voltage gain for the amplifier is set to such a value that the amplified output signal should
not drive the transistor out of its active region at any point in time for the range of input
signals expected. As long as the amplifier works in the active region of the transistor, the
output signal has the same shape as that of the input, with the only difference in magnitude
and phase. For example, if the input signal is a sine wave with a frequency of 1 kHz, the
output will also be an amplified sine wave of 1 kHz. For these reasons these amplifiers are
also called Linear Amplifiers in contrast to Switching Amplifiers. As long as the amplitude
of the input signal is small, the amplifier will use only a small part of the load line, and the
operation of the amplifier will remain linear.

2.1 Common Emitter (CE) Amplifier (has both Current and Voltage Gain)

In the Common Emitter or grounded emitter configuration, the input signal is applied between
the base, while the output is taken from between the collector and the emitter as shown. This
type of configuration is the most commonly used circuit for transistor based amplifiers and
which represents the "normal" method of bipolar transistor connection.
The common emitter amplifier configuration produces the highest current and power gain of
all the three bipolar transistor configurations. This is mainly because the input impedance is
LOW as it is connected to a forward-biased PN-junction, while the output impedance is HIGH
as it is taken from a reverse-biased PN-junction. The common emitter configuration is an
inverting amplifier circuit. This means that the resulting output signal is 180° "out-of-phase"
with the input voltage signal.

2.2 Amplifier Characteristics

Following are some of the important characteristics of amplifier.

Experiment No.02: BJT as a Class A Amplifier Page|2

 Sir Syed CASE Institute of Technology, Islamabad
EE332L Electronic Design and Practice (5Th Semester)
2.2.1 Input Impedance

The input impedance 𝒁𝒊 (some times referred to as input resistance 𝑅𝑖 ) of an amplifier is

defined as the impedance seen by the input signal. Thus it is the ratio of the input signal
voltage to the input current, i.e.
𝑽𝒊
𝒁𝒊 = , 𝒁𝒊 = 𝑹𝟏||𝑹𝟐||𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒂 ∗ 𝒓𝒆
𝑰𝒊

Note: re is dynamic AC resistance

𝟐𝟓𝒎𝑽
𝒓𝒆 =
𝑰𝑬
2.2.2 Output Impedance

The output impedance 𝒁𝒐 of the amplifier is that seen looking from the load into the output
of the amplifier. Voltage Gain
𝒁𝒐 = 𝑹𝒄
2.2.3 Voltage Gain

The AC voltage gain (𝐴𝑣 ) is the ratio of the AC output voltage to the AC input voltage, i.e.
𝑽𝒐 𝑹𝒄
𝑨𝒗 = , 𝑨𝒗 =
𝑽𝒊 𝒓𝒆
2.2.4 Current Gain

The current gain (𝐴𝑖 ) is similarly defined as the ratio of the output Ac current to the input
current, i.e.
𝑰𝒐
𝑨𝒊 =
𝑰𝒊
2.2.5 Power Gain

Amplifier’s power gain (𝐴𝑖 ) is the ratio of output to input AC power, i.e.
𝑷𝒐
𝑨𝒑 =
𝑷𝒊

𝑽𝒊 𝟐 𝑽𝒐 𝟐
𝑷𝒊 = 𝑷𝒐 =
𝑹𝒊 𝑹𝒐
The power gain is also equal to the product of voltage and current gains, i.e.

𝑨𝒑 = 𝑨𝒗 𝑨𝒊

Sometimes power gains are defined in decibels (dB) as:

𝑷𝒐
𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝑮𝒂𝒊𝒏 (𝒅𝑩) = 𝟏𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈 ( )
𝑷𝒊

Experimental Work
3.1 Equipment and Components Required

1. DC Power Supply
2. Oscilloscope
Experiment No.02: BJT as a Class A Amplifier Page|3
 Sir Syed CASE Institute of Technology, Islamabad
EE332L Electronic Design and Practice (5Th Semester)
3. Function Generator
4. DMM
5. Breadboard
6. Transistor: 2𝑁3904
7. Resistors:[1K-22K-560-3K-6.8K-10K-2.2K]
8. Capacitors: [1u-10u-100u]

Procedure
1. Connect the circuit components as shown in Fig 3.2. After connecting the circuit
components apply 𝑉𝐶𝐶 and then set 𝑉𝐶𝐶 = 12 𝑉.
2. Now measure the Q-point values and note the values in Table

VCC  12V

2 N 3904
R1 10 k RC 1 k
NPN

2N 3904

R2 2.2 k RE 330 
E B C
Fig 3.1 (Pin diagram)
Fig 3.2:__________________
DC Analysis Table
Calculated value Measured value
𝑽𝑩
𝑽𝑬
𝑽𝑪
𝑰𝑬=𝑰𝒄
𝑽𝑪𝑬
𝒓𝒆

Experiment No.02: BJT as a Class A Amplifier Page|4

 Sir Syed CASE Institute of Technology, Islamabad
EE332L Electronic Design and Practice (5Th Semester)
Common-Emitter AC Voltage Gain

Draw the input and output waveform on the following graph

Experiment No.02: BJT as a Class A Amplifier Page|5

 Sir Syed CASE Institute of Technology, Islamabad
EE332L Electronic Design and Practice (5Th Semester)
AC Input Impedance

Output Impedance

Experiment No.02: BJT as a Class A Amplifier Page|6

 Sir Syed CASE Institute of Technology, Islamabad
EE332L Electronic Design and Practice (5Th Semester)

Class A Amplifier

The most commonly used type of power amplifier configuration is the Class A
Amplifier. The Class A amplifier is the simplest form of power amplifier that uses
a single switching transistor in the standard common emitter circuit configuration as
seen previously to produce an inverted output. The transistor is always biased “ON”
so that it conducts during one complete cycle of the input signal waveform
producing minimum distortion and maximum amplitude of the output signal.

The efficiency of this type of circuit is very low (less than 30%) and delivers small
power outputs for a large drain on the DC power supply. A Class A amplifier stage
passes the same load current even when no input signal is applied so large heatsinks
are needed for the output transistors. Q-Point is in the mid of the Load line as shown
in the figure.

Experiment No.02: BJT as a Class A Amplifier Page|7

 Sir Syed CASE Institute of Technology, Islamabad
EE332L Electronic Design and Practice (5Th Semester)
Lab #10 Marks distribution

ER1 ER9 RR2

Task 50 points 30 points 20 points

Lab #10 Marks obtained

ER1 ER9 RR2 Total

Task

Marks Details:

Marks obtained: …………………………………

Instructor’s Signature: …………………………..

Experiment No.02: BJT as a Class A Amplifier Page|8