Lesson plan
Virtual ground
In electronics, a virtual ground (or virtual earth) is a node of a circuit that is maintained at a steady reference potential, without being connected directly to the reference potential. In some cases the reference potential is considered to be that of the surface of the earth, and the reference node is called "ground" or "earth" as a consequence. The virtual ground concept aids circuit analysis in operational amplifiers and other circuits and provides useful practical circuit effects that would be difficult to achieve in other ways. In circuit theory, a node may have any value of current or voltage but physical implementations of a virtual ground will have limitations in terms of current handling ability and a non-zero impedance which may have practical side effects.
Article summary
In electronics, a virtual ground (or virtual earth) is a node of a circuit that is maintained at a steady reference potential, without being connected directly to the reference potential. In some cases the reference potential is considered to be that of the surface of the earth, and the reference node is called "ground" or "earth" as a consequence. The virtual ground concept aids circuit analysis in operational amplifiers and other circuits and provides useful practical circuit effects that would be difficult to achieve in other ways. In circuit theory, a node may have any value of current or voltage but physical implementations of a virtual ground will have limitations in terms of current handling ability and a non-zero impedance which may have practical side effects.
Key claims
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.