EdX

Circuits and Electronics 3: Applications (edX)

Offered by MIT, MITx,
Circuits and Electronics 3: Applications (edX)

Learn about cool applications, op-amps and filters in the design of microchips used in smartphones, computers, and the internet. Want to learn how your radio works? Wondering how to implement filters using resistors, inductors, and capacitors? Wondering what are some other applications of RLC and CMOS circuits? This free circuit course, taught by edX CEO and MIT Professor Anant Agarwal and MIT colleagues, is for you.

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The third and final online Circuits and Electronics courses is taken by all MITElectrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) majors.

Topics covered include: dynamics of capacitor, inductor and resistor networks; design in the time and frequency domains; op-amps, and analog and digital circuits and applications. Design and lab exercises are also significant components of the course.
Weekly coursework includes interactive video sequences, readings from the textbook, homework, online laboratories, and optional tutorials. The course will also have a final exam.
This is a self-paced course, so there are no weekly deadlines. However, all assignments are due when the course ends.
This course is part of the Circuits and Electronics XSeries Program.

What you'll learn:

  • How to construct and analyze filters using capacitors and inductors.
  • How to use intuition to describe the approximate time and frequency behavior of second-order circuits containing energy storage elements (capacitors and inductors).
  • The relationship between the mathematical representation of first-order circuit behavior and corresponding real-life effects.
  • Circuits applications using op-amps.
  • Measurement of circuit variables using tools such as virtual oscilloscopes, virtual multimeters, and virtual signal generators.
  • How to compare the measurements with the behavior predicted by mathematical models and explain the discrepancies.

Course Syllabus

Week 1: Second-order circuits, damping in second-order systems
Week 2: Sinusoidal steady state analysis, frequency response, frequency response plots, impedance methods
Week 3: Filters, quality factor, time and frequency domain responses
Week 4: Op-amp abstraction, negative feedback, Op-amp amplifiers, Op-amp filters and other circuits
Week 5: Stability, positive feedback, oscillators, energy and power
Week 6: CMOS digital logic, breaking, the abstraction barrier

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