Confusion regarding negative resistance circuits

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of negative resistance circuits, particularly focusing on the possibility of constructing a direct current (DC) circuit that demonstrates negative resistance characteristics. Participants explore the theoretical and practical implications of negative resistance in various circuit configurations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses confusion about negative resistance circuits and seeks clarity on whether a DC circuit can be built to increase voltage or decrease resistance in an inductive component.
  • Another participant asserts that negative resistance is a property exhibited by certain elements, such as UJT and Gunn diodes, but only in AC circuits, indicating that no DC circuit can demonstrate this property.
  • A third participant explains that a "negative resistor" in a DC context would imply current flowing in the opposite direction when a voltage is applied, which is not feasible without an additional energy source.
  • This participant further clarifies that negative resistance refers to dynamic resistance and occurs within specific voltage ranges for certain semiconductors, like tunnel diodes, and notes that ordinary transistors can exhibit similar effects under non-standard conditions.
  • A later reply acknowledges the clarification about negative resistance applying only in AC circuits and questions the terminology used, expressing curiosity about the choice of the term "negative resistance."

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that negative resistance is primarily associated with AC circuits and that constructing a DC circuit to demonstrate negative resistance characteristics is not feasible. However, there remains some uncertainty regarding the terminology and the implications of negative resistance in different contexts.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the limitations of their discussion, particularly regarding the definitions and conditions under which negative resistance is observed, as well as the specific components that exhibit this behavior.

resonant.freq
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Hello Everyone!

I have recently been attempting to understand negative resistance circuits(on a practical level at least to start). I've pulled up a few websites giving actual circuits to demonstrate the principle, but still can't quite understand it. Every circuit example so far shows either a pulsed or ac power source and is basically an rlc circuit that oscillates at a frequency dependent on the values of the capacitor and inductor. such as > http://jlnlabs.online.fr/cnr/negosc.htm (example only). In my mind in a circuit like that its not all that clear exactly how and if negative resistance actually shows its self.

To cut a long story short what I would love to know is there an actual dc only(not oscillating) circuit that can be built to either... Increase the apparent voltage applied to an inductive component(coil) AND/OR decrease the apparent resistance of that coil(thus allowing more current to flow than you would expect given the power source, resistance, and ohms law).

Thanks for any help on this subject as I am still coming to terms understanding it.

cheers
Andrew
 
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Negative resistance is just a property shown by some elements like UJT(in normal ac circuits),GUNN DIODE(in microwave circuits) etc.All of them exhibit that property in a range of ac voltage.Hence as far as I know,there is no such dc circuit.
 
You can't have a "negative resistor" that works with DC. That would mean that if you applied a voltage in one direction, the current would flow in the opposite direction.

OK, you could do that if your "resistor" included a battery or some other energy source, but that's not what we are talking about.

The negative resistance is the dynamic resistance, or the slope of the graph of voltage against current. In other words, if you increase the voltage slightly, the current still flows in the "forwards" direction, but it gets smaller not bigger.

This only happens for a particular range of voltages across the component. There are semiconductors that are specially designed to do that (e.g. tunnel diodes), but your web page is using the fact that some "ordinary" transistors show the same effect if you use them way outside of the conditions they were designed for.
 
Excellent ! 'that it applies only in ac circuits' makes perfect sence... I suppose its just so assumed that it was neglected in anything id read. ... I would still wonder why they chose the term negative ''resistance''...and not another term... never the less thanks for clearing that up.
 

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