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A split (also called dual) power supply has a positive and negative voltage in relationship to ground.
- Virtual ground: A rail splitter takes the full supply voltage and outputs half of it. That voltage becomes the 0V reference point ground for the rest of the circuit. The positive and negative supply are assigned half of the total voltage. In the example above, 18V is split into +9V, 0V, and -9V.
- Op amp wired as a voltage follower, with half of the supply voltage at it’s non inverting input, will output that same voltage. How much current it can source or sink depends on the op amp being used.
- 741 is an older style dual supply only op amp that isn’t used much these days. But if you happen to come across some, it works alright in low power circuits like this one.
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