What is Socrates Belief an Example of the Topic Psychology Essays by

What is Socrates Belief about the Pursuit of truths by the Critical Methods of Inquiry The Socratic belief about the pursuit of truths by the critical methods of inquiry is reflected in the implication of the Socratic examination that virtually, every moral belief becomes false and an incitement to injustice the moment it becomes unquestioned or unquestionable (Rothman, Barbara Katz 2005, p. 22). Rothman cited that the Socratic Method is consists of dialectic of continuous questioning among critical thinkers that proceed in the spirit of the sifting and winnowing of ideas. Need essay sample on "What is Socrates Belief about the Pursuit of truths by the Critical Methods of Inquiry" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed According to Rothman, Socrates suggests that civic virtue and morals, unaccompanied by intelligence hygiene by a thinking which dissolves opinions rather are the invariable accomplices of injustice and immorality (Rothman, p. 22). Platos Apology contains Socrates trial and the private conversations in which according to Rachana Kamtekar it pretends to be the speech which Socrates himself gave (p. 100) in defense against the accusation that he has corrupted the mind of the young Athenians. However, Kamtekar pointed out that it is hard to determine the accuracy of Platos Apology due to the lack of precisely comparable surviving text (p. 100). In Platos Apology, Socrates used rhetoric to find the answer for a riddle given by his friend, whether there was someone in Athens who was wiser than him. Socrates then made an enquiry by asking questions with the men of Athens about their knowledge of good, beauty and virtue. Finding that no one among the men he questioned had knowledge he concludes that he is wiser only because he knew that he knew nothing (Socrates). Socrates belief about the pursuit of truth in Platos Apology by the critical methods of inquiry is clearly reflected by his conclusion on his findings about the answer to the question whether someone was wiser than him. He has done an enquiry and concluded based on his findings. When he was sentenced to death by drinking a poison, he turned down the pleas of his disciples to escape although he has opportunity to do so because he believes that the individual citizen can be completely subjected to the possibility of being accused of crimes by his fellow citizens and be found guilty of the charge. Socrates believes that the individual citizen is under contract with the laws of city he chose to live and by escaping would be contrary to his own teachings and principles. Thus, it appears that Socrates conclusion that he knew that he is wiser because he knew that he knew nothing as compared to the prominent men of Athens, who had resorted to inducing charges against him upon realizing their inferior knowledge, has to do with his belief about the pursuit of truth. The implication of this was that truth is a can be obtain trough critical inquiry on the available resources. What is needed is the determination to seek for an answer to the particular questions relating to the subject. It was for this reason that Socrates was willing to face death rather than escape it. Work Cited Kamtekar, Rachana Platos Euthyphro, and Crito UK: Rowman & Little field Publishers, 2005 Rothman, Barbara Katz Weaving a Family USA: Beacon Press, 2005. Socrates http://schools-wikipedia.org/wp/s/Socrates.htm

Organizational Behavior Mid Term Essay Example

Organizational Behavior Mid Term Essay Example Organizational Behavior Mid Term Essay Organizational Behavior Mid Term Essay ASSIGNMENT FRONT COVER used: 1471 | | Table of Contents Question 1: Understanding Human Behavior is critical to organizations – discuss the benefits of self evaluation/self assessment as it relates to leaders today . †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 Question 2: Prejudice can be hurtful and destructive – discuss how you can personally reduce prejudice in your workplace – please provide an example †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 References and Bibliography†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 Question 1: Understanding Human Behavior is critic al to organizations – discuss the benefits of self evaluation/self assessment as it relates to leaders today In today’s ever changing environment, organizations need to continuously adapt and transform, not only in order to succeed but even just to survive. While it takes a capable manager to efficiently run a business in steady-state, it takes a leader to successfully drive an organization through change (Kotter in Robbins and Judge, 2009: 385). Dealing with technology, economic and legislation changes isn’t new for organizations. The speed of change has however substantially increased in the last few decades as has the disruptive nature of these changes. Leaders today are faced with challenges such as globalization and instant communication that were not present until recently. The words and actions of leaders are broadcasted across the globe within seconds and are heard and seen by individuals who will perceive and interpret them through the filter of their own values, assumptions, beliefs and expectations. In this accelerated environment, effective leaders need to be able to swiftly read trends and anticipate change, adapt to new situations, fine-tune their actions and continuously inspire others towards the pursuit of a compelling vision. In order to do so, they need to be perceptive of the environment around them and detect when discrepancies between their assumptions and reality arise (Clawson, 2001: 14). An example of business failure due to the mismatch between leader’s assumptions and environmental reality is Polaroid. When in 1977 Polaroid launched its instant-video product Polavision (an innovative instant movie camera that used an additive process to generate color), it experienced the first of several product failures that eventually forced the company into bankruptcy. The mistake that Polaroid’s Leader Edwin H. Land made was to assume that the market-follows-technology approach that had been successful for the previous 40 years was unchangeably valid (Lefler, 2010), despite the skepticism expressed by many within the company. Simpler and cheaper videocassette based alternatives were released at the same time by Kodak and other competitors. These â€Å"non-instant† products responded to markets’ trends better than Polaroid’s ground breaking instant-video solution, condemning Polavision to irrelevance and Polaroid to massive losses (Giambarba, 1977). I think Polavision is the story of a self awareness lacking leader, failing to identify his blind spots and driving the organization to failure. In my opinion Mr. Land failed to question his assumption in a changing marketplace and to openly listen to others, consequently ignoring precious feedback. Had Mr. Land listened to the concerns expressed by others around him, including Polaroid’s president Bill McCune, things could have possibly gone differently. Self evaluation is what allows individuals to identify those blind spots and weaknesses and to put measures in place to compensate them (Musselwhite, C. 2007). Through self evaluation, self awareness is achieved. The benefits of self evaluation and self awareness for a leader in today’s organizations are significant. By understanding your strengths, efforts can be focused on them, hence developing a greater potential for success (Roberts at all, 2005: 1). By recognizing your weaknesses you are in a better position to a ccept them and deal with them effectively. In the case of Polavision, Mr Land’s product and technology strengths were overshadowed by his marketing weakness. For his leadership to be effective, Mr. Land should have commissioned a market research to validate his assumption that the public was ready and willing to consume the product he was developing. Self awareness is the basis of self management and social awareness (Goleman, 2000; 80). The ability to read and manage your emotions, reactions and feelings, helps seeing yourself and the world under a different light. This in turns enables you to shift your point of view and identify opportunities and solutions that were otherwise impossible to imagine (Covey, 1989: 86). In the case of Polaroid a more socially aware Mr. Land would have valued the input of the Polavision skeptics and maybe redirected his creativity towards developing a product more in line with current market trends. Moreover, acknowledging your limits and not hiding them induces trust. You are perceived as human and people relate to you better. When trusted, you become a more effective leader as people feel safe when they follow your direction. Your behavior remains consistent in different situations and the influence of the environment on your actions is weakened. You develop charisma. You become authentic (George, B. et all, 2007: 7). Self evaluation implies asking for feedback and actively listening to what you hear. As you learn from asking questions, people around you also feel more comfortable doing so. This ignites a virtuous learning circle that drives personal growth. The biggest asset of organizations is their human capital. An engaged, motivated and virtuous human capital is the engine behind organizations’ success. In particular, by developing an environment where it is OK to ask questions, to challenge status-quo, to try new things and to make mistakes, innovation forces are unleashed (Musselwhite, C. , 2007). Conclusion Self Evaluation develops self awareness. Self awareness promotes personal growth and enables behaviors that are associated with charismatic leadership. Charisma is what inspires others to follow the leader. They trust her, share her vision and feel empowered and motivated to work towards a common goal. Charisma is a crucial element of effective leadership, but it is often not sufficient to drive organizations, particularly large ones, to sustainable success (Nadler and Tushman, 1990: 85). Self awareness developed through self evaluation, allows a leader to also understand and address this. By recognizing her limits, a self aware leader will develop an organizational structure that complements her strengths and, through alignment, effectively works towards the set vision. The most prominent benefits of self assessment for leaders today in my opinion are therefore the enablement of charismatic and institutional leadership, both of which are necessary to effectively guide an organization. Question 2: Prejudice can be hurtful and destructive – discuss how you can personally reduce prejudice in your workplace – please provide an example Prejudice (prior judgment[1]) implies forming an opinion about the personality traits, expected behavior, skills and capability of a person, without that opinion being backed by empirical evidence. These pre-formed opinions are often very strong, deriving from values and beliefs that are deeply embedded in our psyche. As such they are hard to remove. We may even unconsciously reject evidence negating the pre-judgment in a self affirming effort to confirm our assumptions. The end result is a diminished ability to appreciate the full range of qualities and the potential of the impacted individual. Prejudice and the corresponding discriminatory behavior, including institutional prejudice, are major issues for organizations today. Increasing cultural diversity in the workforce and the global reach of markets require organizations to actively strive for integration rather than assimilation or differentiation (Thomas Ely, 1996: 1). In my opinion, the onus of promoting an effort in that direction lies mostly on managers. As a manager I have a moral and professional duty to address prejudice in my organization and I have taken specific steps in that sense. I started with doing introspection to identify my own prejudices. I focused on my upbringing: who were the most influential figures in my childhood? What messaging did I receive from them and from the environment around me? What stereotypes derived from this? Being of white, catholic and Italian origin, I could immediately identify how anything outside of that archetype, was subject to some degree of prejudice, even if involuntarily. The good news is that â€Å"Prejudice is externally sourced† and â€Å"since it s learned, it can be unlearned† (Clawson, J. G. Smith, B. , 1990: 5-6). I then realized that most likely everyone in my work environment have similar preconceptions. For example, some people talk to me with the typical Italian-American mafia accent from The Sopranos[2] probably thinking it is hilarious. It doesn’t bother me, but I can definitely see how it could be bothersome to other Italians. I made treasure of these realizations and determined that these are ignorance-based preconceptions that can be resolved by increasing inter-cultural knowledge. I therefore resolved to take steps to encourage people from different backgrounds and cultures to interact with each other. For example, recently I included two international team members (Bryan the reporting manager who is Chinese and Manish the systems analyst who is Indian) in a 4 person project team based in the US Midwest, dealing with the integration of systems and processes from our Company’s latest acquisition. I personally facilitated the first few meetings and encouraged open participation by listening to and publicly valuing everyone’s contribution. I then assigned tasks in a way that required interaction and cooperation. The effort paid off and the team succeeded. The system and process integration was completed in record time, with wide consensus and to the smallest details. References and Bibliography Books Robbins, S. P. Judge, T. A. (2009). Organizational Behavior. 13th Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people. USA: Free Press. Internet Resources Lefler, P. (2010). Polavision Polaroids disruptive innovation failure. [Webpage] Available from: spruancegroup. com/blog/bid/32860/Polavision-Polaroid-s-disruptive-innovation-failure [Accessed on Wednesday, November 7th 2012]. Giambarba, P. (1977). [Webpage] Available from: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Polavision [Accessed on Wednesday, November 7th 2012]. Musselwhite, C. (2007). Self Awareness and the Effective Leader. [Webpage] Available from: inc. com/resources/leadership/articles/20071001/musselwhite. html [Accessed on Wednesday, November 7th 2012]. The Online Etymology Dictionary, word search: prejudice. [Webpage] Available from: etymonline. com/index. php? term=prejudice [Accessed on Thursday, November 8th 2012]. Wikipedia, word search: the sopranos. [Webpage] Available from: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The_Sopranos [Accessed on Friday, November 9th 2012]. Journal Articles and Written Course Material Roberts, L. M. , Spreitzer, G. , Dutton, J. , Quinn, R. , Heaphy, E. , and Barker, B. (2005), â€Å"How to Play to Your Strenghts†, Harvard Business Review, January 2005. Goleman, D, (2000), â€Å"Leadership that gets results†, Harvard Business Review, March-April 2000. Clawson, J. G. 2001) UVA-OB-0652 Leadership and Intelligence, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Darden School Foundation. George, B. , Sims, P. , McLean, A. N. , and Mayer, D. (2007), â€Å"Discovering Your Authentic Leadership†, Harvard Business Review, February 2007. Nadler, D. A. , Tushman, M. L. , (1990) CMR-024 Beyond the Charismatic Leader: Leadership and Organizational Change, California Manag ement Review, Harvard Business School Publishing. Clawson, J. G. Smith, B. (1990) UVA-OB-0381 Prejudice in Organizations, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Darden School Foundation. Thomas, D. A. Ely, R. J. (1996), â€Å"Making Differences Matter†, Harvard Business Review, September-October 1996. [1] See the â€Å"Online Etymology Dictionary† ( etymonline. com/index. php? term=prejudice) [2] From Wikipedia (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The_Sopranos): The Sopranos is an American television drama created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads.

Supply Chain Integration Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Supply Chain Integration - Case Study Example The power of IOIS also helped in creating an adversarial relationship between Wal-Mart and P&G. In this case, information technology helped in creating an accurate and timely information flow within the organizations. In simple terms, technology helped in establishing a common language especially during the partnership (Clark, and McKenny, 1995). Through technology, both organizations’ costs were driven down. Supply chain integration entails the flow of both products and information between organizational supply chain members. Recently, technology use is considered a requirement for any effective control in supply chain integration. In fact, development in technology enables organizational supply chain management to avail information easily. These technologies remain significant especially in coordinating the activities that help manage supply chain. Despite the acknowledged significance of IT use in supply chain integration, most studies assessing technology use in supply chain context remains limited (Coyle, Langley, Gibson, & Novack, 2012). According to the article, technology use especially in supply chain management is divided into at least three aspects. The three aspects include; Use of inter-organizational systems in supply chain integration remains important especially in information sharing. It also helps in processing across organizational boundaries. In organizations such as Wal-Mart, technology has played various roles in the company’s supply chain integration. Key roles in this case include driving out costs via automation, joint scorecards and measurements, and sharing information to better consumer understanding. It also helps in driving sales (Coyle, Langley, Gibson, & Novack, 2012). On the other hand, technology in supply chain integration helps in emphasizing strong commitment into developing mutually beneficial

Discussion #3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Discussion #3 - Essay Example ket by expanding its operation in a number of countries outside America, even to far flung continents such as Africa where it has a formidable market share in the fast food sector (Luthans & Hodgetts, 2012). McDonald’s Corp employs the franchising market strategy to expand its operations globally. Franchising involves the company offering subsidiary firms the rights to use the Macdonald’s brand/trademark name or business model to offer products and services exactly similar to those offered by the parent company in exchange for some discount on sales and the payment of royalties for using the company’s brand name (Luthans & Hodgetts, 2012). Thus, with the use of this strategy, the company has outlets in over one hundred and twenty countries with a total of twenty-five thousand outlets. McDonald’s Corp considered the idea of franchising as the best alternative for penetrating the global markets because franchising is a relatively cheaper technique of expanding operations globally, compared to penetrating into the international markets with the firm’s own capital, which is more risky and uncertain given the global competitiveness of the industry. Therefor e, company considered this strategy as a prudent idea because franchisees (the local firms) fully understand the market dynamics influencing their respective countries and regions thus, are better positioned to tackle any eventuality arising as a result of rolling out new products or services in that market (Luthans & Hodgetts, 2012). However, earlier on the firm had employed licencing as a marketing strategy for expansion when it awarded a licence to Ray Kroc in the year 1954. It is this licencing deal that gave birth to the most lucrative McDonald’s Corp business outside the United States of America because within the first two years of the deal, the company managed to establish more than seven hundred McDonald’s outlets in Canada; the largest number of outlets in any nation outside USA (Luthans &

Effect of Advertising in Brand Promotion Dissertation

Effect of Advertising in Brand Promotion - Dissertation Example with Established Businesses 34 4.3 Analysis and Discussion 37 5.CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS 43 5.1 Conclusions 43 5.2 Recommendations and Implications for Businesses 45 5.3Revisiting Aims and Objectives 47 5.4 Research Limitations 48 5.5 Areas of Future Study 48 5.6 Concluding Remarks 49 References 50 Appendix-I 55 1. INTRODUCTION In today’s competitive world, businesses can only survive if they communicate well to their customers. In the time when every other company is bombarding messages to the customers, one must not stay behind in the race of communication. There are several ways to communicate with the customers and where the product itself, the price and the place too communicates with the customers there are some specific communication tools available for companies to reach the target audiences. Promotion mix elaborates different ways via which a company can target its current and potential customers. These specific communication tools include advertisi ng, sales promotion, publicity / public relations and personal selling – the promotion mix. This paper focuses on advertising as a way to reach audiences where the major focus is on brand building and how it may help in promoting a business. The distinction between new and established businesses and the impact of advertising and branding on both a new and an established business is presented. 1.1 Background and Context Businesses focus on advertising and branding more than ever before; this is partly because of the increased competition. It has become important to stay visible in the time when every other business is advertising and promoting itself. Advertising and branding is the most beneficial and extremely vital for businesses. It is true that advertisements affect businesses; several authors and researchers have concluded that advertisement has the power to have an effect on businesses. Though not same, there is a close link between advertisement and brand promotion. Br ands are created over a period of time and advertising plays a crucial role in brand promotion; a common marketing strategy used for creating awareness of products, increase in sales and ensuring customer loyalty is brand promotion. Many businesses instead of promoting individual products focus on promoting the brands as a part of their corporate strategy; this is called corporate branding. Grime (2012, p. 146) defined corporate branding as â€Å"a consistent effort centered on the company as a whole†. The prime motive of brand promotion is to create customer awareness (Trehan & Trehan 2010); once established, the customer tends to purchase that product again and again which leads to customer loyalty. Brand promotion also

An operational amplifier

An operational amplifier Introduction: Anoperational amplifier, which is often called anop-amp, is aDC-coupledhigh-gainelectronic voltageamplifierwith a differential input and, usually, a single-ended output.An op-amp produces an output voltage that is typically millions of times larger than the voltagedifferencebetween its input terminals. Typically uses of the operational amplifier are to provide voltage amplitude changes (amplitude and polarity), oscillators, filter circuits, and many types of instrumentation circuits. An op-amp contains a number of differential amplifier stages to achieve a very high voltage gain. Typically the op-amps very large gain is controlled bynegative feedback, which largely determines the magnitude of its output voltage gain in amplifier applications, or thetransfer functionrequired. Without negative feedback, and possibly withpositive feedbackforregeneration, an op-amp essentially acts as acomparator. High inputimpedanceat the input terminals and low output impedance at the output terminals (ideally zero) are important typical characteristics. Op-amps are among the most widely used electronic devices today, being used in a vast array of consumer, industrial, and scientific devices. Many standard IC op-amps cost only a few cents in moderate production volume; however some integrated or hybrid operational amplifiers with special performance specifications may cost over $100 US in small quantities. Op-amps sometimes come in the form of macroscopic components, or asintegrated circuitcells; patterns that can be reprinted several times on one chip as part of a more complex device. The op-amp is one type ofdifferential amplifier. Other types of differential amplifier include thefully differential amplifier(similar to the op-amp, but with two outputs), theinstrumentation amplifier(usually built from three op-amps), theisolation amplifier(similar to the instrumentation amplifier, but with tolerance to common-mode voltages that would destroy an ordinary op-amp), andnegative feedback amplifier(usually built from one or more op-amps and a resistive feedback network). An Amplifier is made of: A Gain Block (ideally possessing infinite gain) Feedback A Network that sets the amount of feedback (e.g. resistors) The circuit symbol for an op-amp is shown to the right, where: The power supply pins (V_{text{S}!+}andV_{text{S}!-}) can be labelled in different ways). Despite different labelling, the function remains the same to provide additional power for amplification of signal. Often these pins are left out of the diagram for clarity, and the power configuration is described or assumed from the circuit. Op amps are versatile ICs that can perform a variety of mathematical functions. For this reason, they are the building blocks of many signal processing circuits. They have almost infinite gain, high input impedance, and low output impedance. Because of this, there is no current drawn at either input, and the voltage at both inputs must be equal (they are often drawn with a short connecting them) Op amps have two inputs, an inverting (-) and non inverting (+). A positive voltage source and negative voltage source or ground are connected directly to the op amp, although these are rarely shown on circuit diagrams. There is a single output, which is almost always connected to the inverting input with a feedback loop. Ideal Op Amps: There are three rules for analyzing op amp circuits. In addition to KVL and KCL, any op amp circuit should be solvable with these rules. Infinite input impedance. No current is drawn so: Infinite gain. This means that the input voltages must be equal. Zero output impedance. This means that output voltage does not depend on the output current. Real Op Amps: Ideal op amps are modelled with infinite gain and infinite impedance. While real op amps have high gain and low impedance, they are not infinite. This limiting factor can affect the performance of the circuit, so it should be considered. Another limitation of real op amps is voltage gain. Instead of being infinite, the maximum output voltage is about 1.4 V lower than the supply voltage (this is due to diode drops in the op amp). Ideal behaviour is not an accurate modelling technique when square waves are used. For this type of input, the voltage changes infinitely fast as it jumps from the high to the low parts of the wave. Op amps cant change instantaneously, there is a slight slope produced in the output. This can be measured by the slew rate (with is the change in voltage over the change in time). Rise time is another parameter used to calculate how quickly an op amp can adjust. The amount of time it takes the voltage to change from 10% to 90% of the desired value is the rise time. For application with square wave input, these two factors can affect the response of your circuit. Connecting an Op Amp: Op amps with Dual in Line Packages should be connected to a breadboard as shown here. The notch is at the top of the op-amp, with pins counted counter clockwise from the upper left corner. Operation: The amplifiers differential inputs consist of V_{!+}input and aV_{!-}input, and ideally the op-amp amplifies only the difference in voltage between the two, which is called thedifferential input voltage. The output voltage of the op-amp is given by the equation, WhereV_{!+}the voltage at the non-inverting terminal is,V_{!-}is the voltage at the inverting terminal andGopen-loopis theopen-loopgain of the amplifier. (The term open-loop refers to the absence of a feedback loop from the output to the input.) Op-amp with inverting input grounded through a resistor; input at the non-inverting input, and no feedback With no negative feedback, the op-amp acts as a switch. The inverting input is held at ground (0 V) by the resistor, so if the Vinapplied to the non-inverting input is positive, the output will be maximum positive, and if Vinis negative, the output will be maximum negative. Since there is no feedback from the output to either input, this is anopen loopcircuit. The circuits gain is just the Gopen-loopof the op-amp. Standard two-resistor non-inverting amplifier circuit The magnitude ofGopen-loopis typically very large-seldom less than a million-and therefore even a quite small difference betweenV_{!+}andV_{!-}(a few microvolts or less) will result in amplifier saturation, where the output voltage goes to either the extreme maximum or minimum end of its range, which is set approximately by the power supply voltages.Finleys lawstates that When the inverting and non-inverting inputs of an op-amp are not equal, its output is in saturation. Additionally, the precise magnitude ofGopen-loopis not well controlled by the manufacturing process, and so it is impractical to use an operational amplifier as a stand-alonedifferential amplifier. If linear operation is desired,negative feedbackmust be used, usually achieved by applying a portion of the output voltage to the inverting input. The feedback enables the output of the amplifier to keep the inputs at or near the same voltage so that saturation does not occur. Another benefit is that if much negative feedb ack is used, the circuits overall gain and other parameters become determined more by the feedback network than by the op-amp itself. If the feedback network is made of components with relatively constant, predictable, values such as resistors, capacitors and inductors, the unpredictability and inconstancy of the op-amps parameters (typical of semiconductor devices) do not seriously affect the circuits performance. If no negative feedback is used, the op-amp functions as a switch or comparator. Positive feedback may be used to introducehysteresisor oscillation. Returning to a consideration of linear (negative feedback) operation, the high open-loop gain and low input leakage current of the op-amp imply two golden rules that are highly useful in analysing linear op-amp circuits. Golden rules of op-amp negative feedback Ifthere is negative feedback andifthe output is not saturated, both inputs are at the same voltage; no current flows in or out of either input. These rules are true of the ideal op-amp and for practical purposes are true of real op-amps unless very high-speed or high-precision performance is being contemplated (in which case account must be taken of things such as input capacitance, input bias currents and voltages, finite speed, and otherop-amp imperfections, discussed in a later section.) As a consequence of the first rule, theinput impedanceof the two inputs will be nearly infinite. That is, even if the open-loop impedance between the two inputs is low, the closed-loop input impedance will be high because the inputs will be held at nearly the same voltage. This impedance is considered as infinite for an ideal opamp and is about onemegaohmin practice. Ideal and real op-amps: An equivalent circuit of an operational amplifier that models some resistive non-ideal parameters. An ideal op-amp is usually considered to have the following properties, and they are considered to hold for all input voltages: Infiniteopen-loop gain(when doing theoretical analysis, alimitmay be taken as open loop gainGgoes to infinity) Infinite voltage range available at the output (vout) (in practice the voltages available from the output are limited by the supply voltagesV_{text{S}!+}andV_{text{S}!-}) Infinitebandwidth(i.e., the frequency magnitude response is considered to be flat everywhere with zerophase shift). Infiniteinput impedance(so, in the diagram,R_{text{in}} = infty, and zero current flows fromv_{!+}tov_{!-}) Zero input current (i.e., there is assumed to be noleakageorbiascurrent into the device) Zeroinput offset voltage(i.e., when the input terminals are shorted so thatv_{!+}=v_{!-}, the output is avirtual groundor vout= 0). Infiniteslew rate(i.e., the rate of change of the output voltage is unbounded) and power bandwidth (full output voltage and current available at all frequencies). Zerooutput impedance(i.e.,Rout= 0, so that output voltage does not vary with output current) Zeronoise InfiniteCommon-mode rejection ratio(CMRR) InfinitePower supply rejection ratiofor both power supply rails. In practice, none of these ideals can be realized, and various shortcomings and compromises have to be accepted. Depending on the parameters of interest, a real op-amp may be modelled to take account of some of the non-infinite or non-zero parameters using equivalent resistors and capacitors in the op-amp model. The designer can then include the effects of these undesirable, but real, effects into the overall performance of the final circuit. Some parameters may turn out to havenegligibleeffect on the final design while others represent actual limitations of the final performance that must be evaluated. History: 1941: First (vacuum tube) op-amp An op-amp, defined as a general-purpose, DC-coupled, high gain, inverting feedbackamplifier, is first found in US Patent 2,401,779 Summing Amplifier filed by Karl D. Swartzel Jr. of Bell labs in 1941. This design used threevacuum tubesto achieve a gain of 90dB and operated on voltage rails of  ±350V. It had a single inverting input rather than differential inverting and non-inverting inputs, as are common in todays op-amps. ThroughoutWorld War II, Swartzels design proved its value by being liberally used in the M9artillery directordesigned at Bell Labs. This artillery director worked with the SCR584radarsystem to achieve extraordinary hit rates (near 90%) that would not have been possible otherwise. 1947: First op-amp with an explicit non-inverting input In 1947, the operational amplifier was first formally defined and named in a paper by Professor John R. Ragazzini of Columbia University. In this same paper a footnote mentioned an op-amp design by a student that would turn out to be quite significant. This op-amp, designed by Loebe Julie, was superior in a variety of ways. It had two major innovations. Its input stage used a long-tailedtriode pair with loads matched to reducedriftin the output and, far more importantly, it was the first op-amp design to have two inputs (one inverting, the other non-inverting). The differential input made a whole range of new functionality possible, but it would not be used for a long time due to the rise of the chopper-stabilized amplifier. 1949: First chopper-stabilized op-amp In 1949, Edwin A. Goldberg designed achopper-stabilized op-amp.This set-up uses a normal op-amp with an additionalACamplifier that goes alongside the op-amp. The chopper gets an AC signal fromDCby switching between the DC voltage and ground at a fast rate (60Hz or 400Hz). This signal is then amplified, rectified, filtered and fed into the op-amps non-inverting input. This vastly improved the gain of the op-amp while significantly reducing the output drift and DC offset. Unfortunately, any design that used a chopper couldnt use their non-inverting input for any other purpose. Nevertheless, the much improved characteristics of the chopper-stabilized op-amp made it the dominant way to use op-amps. Techniques that used the non-inverting input regularly would not be very popular until the 1960s when op-ampICsstarted to show up in the field. In 1953, vacuum tube op-amps became commercially available with the release of the model K2-W from George A. Philbrick Researches, Incorporated. The designation on the devices shown, GAP/R, is a contraction for the complete company name. Two nine-pin 12AX7 vacuum tubes were mounted in an octal package and had a model K2-P chopper add-on available that would effectively use up the non-inverting input. This op-amp was based on a descendant of Loebe Julies 1947 design and, along with its successors, would start the widespread use of op-amps in industry. 1961: First discrete IC op-amps With the birth of thetransistorin 1947, and the silicon transistor in 1954, the concept of ICs became a reality. The introduction of theplanar processin 1959 made transistors and ICs stable enough to be commercially useful. By 1961, solid-state, discrete op-amps were being produced. These op-amps were effectively small circuit boards with packages such as edge-connectors. They usually had hand-selected resistors in order to improve things such as voltage offset and drift. The P45 (1961) had a gain of 94dB and ran on  ±15V rails. It was intended to deal with signals in the range of  ±10V. 1962: First op-amps in potted modules By 1962, several companies were producing modular potted packages that could be plugged intoprinted circuit boards. These packages were crucially important as they made the operational amplifier into a singleblack boxwhich could be easily treated as a component in a larger circuit. 1963: First monolithic IC op-amp In 1963, the first monolithic IC op-amp, the  µA702 designed byBob Widlarat Fairchild Semiconductor, was released. MonolithicICsconsist of a single chip as opposed to a chip and discrete parts (a discrete IC) or multiple chips bonded and connected on a circuit board (a hybrid IC). Almost all modern op-amps are monolithic ICs; however, this first IC did not meet with much success. Issues such as an uneven supply voltage, low gain and a small dynamic range held off the dominance of monolithic op-amps until 1965 when the  µA709 was released. 1966: First varactor bridge op-amps Since the 741, there have been many different directions taken in op-amp design.Varactorbridge op-amps started to be produced in the late 1960s; they were designed to have extremely small input current and are still amongst the best op-amps available in terms of common-mode rejection with the ability to correctly deal with hundreds of volts at their inputs. 1968: Release of the  µA741 The popularity of monolithic op-amps was further improved upon the release of the LM101 in 1967, which solved a variety of issues, and the subsequent release of the  µA741 in 1968. The  µA741 was extremely similar to the LM101 except that Fairchilds facilities allowed them to include a 30pF compensation capacitor inside the chip instead of requiring external compensation. This simple difference has made the 741thecanonical op-amp and many modern amps base their pin out on the 741s.The  µA741 is still in production, and has become ubiquitous in electronics-many manufacturers produce a version of this classic chip, recognizable by part numbers containing741. 1970: First high-speed, low-input current FET design In the 1970s high speed, low-input current designs started to be made by usingFETs. These would be largely replaced by op-amps made withMOSFETsin the 1980s. During the 1970s single sided supply op-amps also became available. 1972: Single sided supply op-amps being produced A single sided supply op-amp is one where the input and output voltages can be as low as the negative power supply voltage instead of needing to be at least two volts above it. The result is that it can operate in many applications with the negative supply pin on the op-amp being connected to the signal ground, thus eliminating the need for a separate negative power supply. The LM324 (released in 1972) was one such op-amp that came in a quad package (four separate op-amps in one package) and became an industry standard. In addition to packaging multiple op-amps in a single package, the 1970s also saw the birth of op-amps in hybrid packages. These op-amps were generally improved versions of existing monolithic op-amps. As the properties of monolithic op-amps improved, the more complex hybrid ICs were quickly relegated to systems that are required to have extremely long service lives or other specialty systems. Recent trends Recently supply voltages in analog circuits have decreased (as they have in digital logic) and low-voltage op-amps have been introduced reflecting this. Supplies of  ±5V and increasingly 5V are common. To maximize the signal range modern op-amps commonly have rail-to-rail inputs (the input signals can range from the lowest supply voltage to the highest) and sometimes rail-to-rail outputs. A very typical commercial IC op amp circuit is the 741. This IC has been available for many years, and a number of variations have been developed to help minimize the errors inherent in its construction and operation. Nevertheless, the analysis we will perform here using the 741 will apply to any other IC op amp, if you take into account the actual parameters of the device you are actually using. Therefore, we will use the 741 as our example IC op amp. A differential amplifier connected as an op amp. To the right is a circuit using the 741 op amp IC, with the input and feedback resistors that are required for this circuit to operate properly in an analog computer. Note that there are actually two inputs to the amplifier, designated + and - in the figure. This is because the 741, like all IC op amps of this type, is in fact a differential amplifier. Thus, the output voltage is determined by thedifferencebetween the two input voltages. The +, or non-inverting input, is grounded through a resistor as shown. Thus, its input voltage is always zero. The -, or inverting input, is the one that is actively used. Thus, we establish that the inverting input, which is also the junction of the input and feedback resistors, must operate as a virtual ground in order to keep the output voltage within bounds. So far, so good, but what about the actual voltage gain? It cant possibly be infinite, and if it isnt infinite, there must be some non-zero input voltage to produce a non-zero output voltage. In fact, the typical open-loop voltage gain for the 741 is 200,000. This does not mean that every such device has a gain of 200,000, however. What is guaranteed is that the commercial version (the 741C) will have a minimum gain of 20,000. The military version is more stringently selected, and will have a minimum voltage gain of 50,000. For the 741C, then, with a maximum output voltage of  ±10 volts, the maximum input voltage required at the inverting input can never be more than  ±10/20,000 =  ±0.0005 volt, or 0.5 milli volts. Typical measurement accuracy uses three significant digits, so we would measure voltages from 0.00 volts to  ±10.00 volts. The maximum input voltage is more than an order of magnitude smaller than this, and hence is insignificant in a typical analog computer. But what about input bias current? Surely the IC requires at leastsomesmall amount of input current? Well, yes, it does. The 741C requires a typical input bias current of 80 nA (thats nano Amperes, where 1nA=10-9A). The maximum input bias current for the 741C is 500nA, or 0.5 µA. So how do we use this information to minimize the errors it could cause into insignificance? Well, lets consider the resistance that would be required for this current to cause a significant voltage drop. If we keep the voltage error small enough, we can ignore it as immeasurable. This means we must keep the values of Rinand Rfas small as possible, consistent with proper operation of the circuit. At the same time, we cannot make them too small, or the op amp itself will be overloaded. For proper operation, the total load resistance at the 741 output should not be smaller than 2000 ohms, or 2k. This amounts to a maximum output current of 5 mA at 10 volts output. This means that the output resistance of the op amp is not the desired zero ohms. However, as long as you dont draw too much current from the output, the use of heavy negative feedback has an added benefit: It makes the op amp behaveas ifit had zero output resistance. That is, any internal resistance will simply mean that the op amp must produce an internal voltage enough higher than the calculated value so that the final output voltage will be the calculated value. So what if we make our input and feedback resistors about 10k each? Then the current demand on the output is only 1 mA at 10 volts, leaving plenty of capacity for additional inputs. And the voltage caused by the input bias current wont exceed 10,000-0.5-10-6=0.005volt. This is half of the least significant digit of our measurement capability, which is not as good as we would like, but will do. Also, this is the absolute worst-case situation; most practical applications wont see an error this big. In addition, the input bias current applies equally to both inputs. This is the reason for the resistor connecting the + input to ground. If this resistor is close in value to the parallel combination of Rin and Rf, the same voltage error will be generated at the two inputs, and will therefore be cancelled out, or very nearly. Thus, we can relegate this problem to true insignificance by means of correct circuit design and careful choice of component values. The 741 does also have two error characteristics, calledinput offset voltageandinput offset current, which define the inherent errors which may exist between the two inputs to the IC. However, the 741 also has the means for balancing these variations out, so the actual errors are minimized or eliminated, thus once again removing them from significance. A problem with any op amp is a limited frequency response. The higher the gain of the complete circuit, the lower the working frequency response. This is one reason an overall gain of 20 is a practical limit. (Another reason is that the input and feedback resistors become too different from each other.) Also, the standard 741 has aslew rateof 0.5v/ µs. This means that the output voltage cannot change any faster than this. The newer generation of op amps, such as the 741S, have a slew rate more like 5v/ µs, and hence can operate over the entire audio range of frequencies without serious problems. Classification of Operational Amplifier: Op-amps may be classified by their construction: discrete (built from individualtransistorsortubes/valves) IC (fabricated in anIntegrated circuit) most common hybrid IC op-amps may be classified in many ways, including: Military, Industrial, or Commercial grade (for example: the LM301 is the commercial grade version of the LM101, the LM201 is the industrial version). This may defineoperating temperatureranges and other environmental or quality factors. Classification by package type may also affect environmental hardiness, as well as manufacturing options;DIP, and other through-hole packages are tending to be replaced bySurface-mount devices. Classification by internal compensation: op-amps may suffer from high frequencyinstabilityin somenegative feedbackcircuits unless a small compensation capacitor modifies the phase- and frequency- responses; op-amps with capacitor built in are termedcompensated, or perhaps compensated forclosed-loopgains down to (say) 5, others: uncompensated. Single, dual and quad versions of many commercial op-amp IC are available, meaning 1, 2 or 4 operational amplifiers are included in the same package. Rail-to-rail input (and/or output) op-amps can work with input (and/or output) signals very close to the power supply rails. CMOSop-amps (such as the CA3140E) provide extremely high input resistances, higher thanJFET-input op-amps, which are normally higher thanbipolar-input op-amps. Other varieties of op-amp include programmable op-amps (simply meaning the quiescent current, gain, and bandwidth and so on can be adjusted slightly by an external resistor). Manufacturers often tabulate their op-amps according to purpose, such as low-noise pre-amplifiers, wide bandwidth amplifiers, and so on. Single-Ended Inputs With single-ended inputs you connect one wire from each signal source to the data acquisition interface the Micro link. The measurement is the difference between the signal and the ground or earth at the Micro link. This method relies on the signal source being grounded (earthed), and the signal sources ground and the Micro links ground having the same value. Differences in Ground Levels We think of the ground as a constant 0V, but in reality the ground, or earth, is at a different level in different places. The closer together the places, the more likely the ground level will be the same. Make a connection between two grounds and the difference in levels can drive large currents, known as earth or ground loops. This can lead to errors when using single-ended inputs. Noise Errors Single-ended inputs are sensitive to noise errors. Noise (unwanted signal contamination) is added because signal wires act as aerials, picking up environmental electrical activity. With single-ended inputs you have no way of distinguishing between the signal and the noise. The ground and noise problems can be solved by differential inputs. Differential Inputs With differential inputs, two signal wires run from each signal source to the Microlink. One goes to a + input and one to a input. Two high-impedance amplifiers monitor the voltage between the input and the interface ground. The outputs of the two amplifiers are then subtracted by a third amplifier to give the difference between the + and inputs, meaning that any voltage common to both wires is removed. This can solve both of the problems caused by single-ended connections. It means that differences in grounds are irrelevant (as long as they arent too large for the amplifier to handle). It also reduces noise twisting wires together will ensure that any noise picked up will be the same for each wire. Floating Signals A common problem when using differential inputs is neglecting any connection to ground. For example, battery-powered instruments and thermocouples have no connection to a buildings ground. You could connect a battery, for instance, between the Micro links + and inputs. The 2 input amplifiers will try to monitor the voltages + to earth and to ground. However, as there is no connection between the battery and ground, these voltages to ground could be any value and may be too large for the amplifier to handle. For these floating signal sources you should provide a reference. The Micro link has a socket labelled 0V. Run a wire from, say, the wire to this OV socket, either directly or via a resistor. (If your signal source is itself grounded dont make a connection to the Micro links 0V socket.) Amplifier Ability and Operating Range The three amplifiers used for differential inputs are collectively known as an instrumentation amplifier. Ideally, as previously described, any voltage common to both wires (common mode voltage) is cancelled. In practice the two input amplifiers are not perfectly matched so a fraction of the common mode voltage may appear. How closely the instrumentation amplifier approaches the ideal is expressed as the common mode rejection ratio (CMRR). This is the reciprocal of the fraction let through and is usually given in decibels. The higher the rejection ratio the better. Another specification to look for is the common mode range. This is the maximum contamination voltage with which the amplifier can cope. If the difference in ground levels between your interface and signal source exceeds this value, your measurement will be inaccurate. Less Signals with Differential Inputs? An obvious disadvantage of differential inputs is that you need twice as many wires, so you can connect only half the number of signals, compared to single-ended inputs. Should you decide that single-ended inputs are OK for you if you have short signal wires, close together signal sources, and signals larger than around 100 mV for e.g. you can use differential inputs in single-ended mode. To do this short one of the signal wires (usually the input) to the Micro link V input. Differential inputs, therefore, give you the option of either mode. Op-Amp Characteristics: A very typical commercial IC op amp circuit is the 741. This IC has been available for many years, and a number of variations have been developed to help minimize the errors inherent in its construction and operation. Nevertheless, the analysis we will perform here using the 741 will apply to any other IC op amp, if you take into account the actual parameters of the device you are actually using. Therefore, we will use the 741 as our example IC op amp. A differential amplifier connected as an op amp. To the right is a circuit using the 741 op amp IC, with the input and feedback resistors that are required for this circuit to operate properly in an analog computer. Note that there are actually two inputs to the amplifier, designated + and - in the figure. This is because the 741, like all IC op amps of this type, is in fact a differential amplifier. Thus, the output voltage is determined by thedifferencebetween the two input voltages. The +, or non-inverting input, is grounded through a resistor as shown. Thus, its input voltage is always zero. The -, or inverting input, is the one that is actively used. Thus, we establish that the inverting input, which is also the junction of the input and feedback resistors, must operate as a virtual ground in order t

History of Belize :: Essays Papers

History of Belize Mayan civilization flourished in what is now called Belize between 300 and 600 AD, but had collapsed around 900 AD. By the time the Spanish arrived in the mid 16th century there were few Mayans left, and their buildings had already become ruins. Although the Spanish explorers laid claim over the area, the first permanent European settlement was established by shipwrecked English seamen in 1638. The English settlers’ raided Spanish ships while Spain retaliated with repeated attacks on the settlers, but in 1763 Spain granted the British settlements the right to begin logging. British administrators governed the area from 1786 which caused a rift between Spain and Britain. England won control over the land at the Battle of St. George’s Caye in 1798, and with the Treaty of Amiens of 1802, Spain recognized British sovereignty. British law began to uphold as of 1840 and the area was eventually declared a crown colony in 1862 known as British Honduras. The United Kingdom’s main interest in Belize was purely economic. In the mid 17th century the African Slave Trade was introduced as a source of labor for forestry which continued to be the main enterprise until it was eventually supplanted by sugar. Although slavery in the British colonies was abolished progressively between 1833 and 1838, many early immigrants came from the West Indies. The only way England was able to farm British Honduras was by shipping massive amounts of immigrants to the country in order to be part of the working class. England’s economic interests in British Honduras pushed for a large mixed immigrant population, which ended up allowing the area to become populated by many interracial children. Although there were few British settlers that stayed on the island, interracial mixing began to develop due to the large population of Africans that came over as slaves and with a few original Amerindian or Mayan inhabitants. People of wha t is now known as Belize can be referred to by different ethnicities known as; Mestizos (mix of Mayan and European descent) and Garifuna or ‘Black Caribs’ (mix of Amerindian and African blood), and Creole (mixture of white and black), but the most predominant race that remains since the 17th century up till today are Black.