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Question 48 of 88

Q.In a Colpitt's oscillator circuit :

(a) capacitive feedback is used
(b) tapped coil is used
(c) no tuned LC circuit is used
(d) no capacitor is used
Puducherry TnboardTamil Nadu HSC (DGE) Board 2017MCQ· 1mImportance★★★★★
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The Colpitts oscillator's tank circuit uses a capacitive voltage-divider (two series capacitors with a single inductor) to derive its feedback signal, which is why it is characterised as using capacitive feedback.

An LC oscillator sustains continuous oscillation by feeding a fraction of the tank circuit's output signal back to the amplifying device (transistor or op-amp) in the correct phase to satisfy the Barkhausen criterion (loop gain ≥1\ge 1, loop phase shift =0°=0° or a multiple of 360°360°). Different LC-oscillator topologies differ mainly in how this feedback fraction is tapped from the tank circuit.

In a Colpitts oscillator, the tank circuit consists of a single inductor LL in parallel with two capacitors C1C_1 and C2C_2 connected in series with each other. The junction between C1C_1 and C2C_2 forms a capacitive voltage divider, and the feedback voltage fed back to the amplifier's input is tapped from this junction — hence 'capacitive feedback'. The oscillation frequency is set by LL and the series combination of C1,C2C_1,C_2: f=12πLCeqf=\dfrac{1}{2\pi\sqrt{LC_{eq}}} with Ceq=C1C2C1+C2C_{eq}=\dfrac{C_1 C_2}{C_1+C_2}.

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