Erica Synths EDU DIY Dual VCA Eurorack Module Kit - Manual (Page 36)

VOLTAGE DIVIDERS
A voltage divider is really just two resistors set up
like this: input on the left, output on the right
. If R1
and R2 are of the same value, the output voltage will be
half of what the input voltage is. How does it work?
Let’s use our analogy again: so we have a pipe on the
left, where water is being pushed to the right with a
specific amount of force. Attached is a narrow pipe,
representing R1, followed by another wide pipe. Then at
the bottom, there’s another narrow pipe, representing
R2, where water can exit the pipe system. Finally,
imagine we’ve set up a sensor measuring the voltage in
the right hand pipe.
First, think about what would happen if R2 was
completely sealed o
ff . Our sensor would tell us that the
pressure on the right side is exactly the same as the
pressure on the left
. Because the pushing force has
nowhere else to go.
On the other hand, imagine R2 would just be a wide
opening. Then
the pressure on the right would be 0 ,
because it’d all escape through that opening. But what
happens if R2 is neither completely closed o
ff nor wide
open? Then the pressure would be retained to varying
degrees, depending on the narrowness of the two
resistor paths.
If pipe R1 is wide and pipe R2 is narrow, most of the
pressure will be retained. But if it’s the reverse, the
pressure level will be only a tiny fraction. And if R1 and
R2 are identical,
the pressure will be exactly half of
what we send in .
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