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Gyrator

technology Maturity 7-9 Next article →

A gyrator is a special part used in electrical circuits. It is a two-port device, which means it has two connection points for electricity to enter and leave. Most circuit parts are reciprocal, meaning they work the same way in both directions. However, the gyrator is non-reciprocal. This means it behaves differently depending on which way the signal travels. It can even reverse the signal's polarity when it moves backward. This unique trait allows engineers to build devices that other parts cannot create alone.

tellegen-gyrator-symbol
tellegen-gyrator-symbol

This part works by cross-coupling voltage and current. In a normal transformer, voltage connects to voltage and current connects to current. A gyrator does something different by connecting voltage on one side to current on the other. It also connects current on one side to voltage on the other. This process is called inverting the impedance. Because of this, a gyrator can make a capacitive circuit act like an inductive one. It can even turn a series LC circuit into a parallel one.

tellegen-gyrator-annotated
tellegen-gyrator-annotated

A scientist named Bernard D. H. Tellegen proposed the gyrator in 1948. He wanted to suggest a fifth type of linear element for circuits. Before this, engineers mainly used resistors, capacitors, inductors, and ideal transformers. Tellegen even created a specific symbol to represent the gyrator in diagrams. He named the part by blending the word "gyroscope" with the suffix "-tor." This suffix is common in names like resistor or transistor.

tellegen-gyrator-cascaded
tellegen-gyrator-cascaded

There are many interesting facts about how gyrators function in math and physics. An ideal gyrator is a lossless device, meaning it does not use up any energy. It is characterized by a value called gyration resistance. If you connect two gyrators together, they can act exactly like an ideal transformer. This discovery means that transformers are actually redundant if you have gyrators. In fact, you can build almost any circuit using just three types of parts.

Op-Amp Gyrator
Op-Amp Gyrator

You can think of a gyrator like a mechanical gyroscope. In a gyroscope, applying force to one axis changes the speed on a different axis. The electrical gyrator mimics this by linking voltage and current across different ports. Today, gyrators are very helpful for making electronics smaller. Instead of using huge coils of wire to make an inductor, engineers use tiny transistors and capacitors. This makes it much easier to build small devices like integrated circuits.

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File:tellegen-gyrator-symbol.svg
tellegen-gyrator-symbol.svg
File:tellegen-gyrator-annotated.svg
tellegen-gyrator-annotated.svg
File:tellegen-gyrator-cascaded.svg
tellegen-gyrator-cascaded.svg
File:Op-Amp Gyrator.svg
Op-Amp Gyrator.svg
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