Amplifier

An electronic amplifier, amplifier, or (informally) amp is an electronic device that increases the power of a signal. It does this by taking energy from a power supply and controlling the output to match the input signal shape but with a larger amplitude. In this sense, an amplifier modulates the output of the power supply. There are four basic types of electronic amplifier: the voltage amplifier, the current amplifier, the transconductance amplifier, and the trans resistance amplifier. A further distinction is whether the output is a linear or exponential representation of the input. Amplifiers can also be categorized by their physical placement in the signal chain.