Voltage Divider

In electronics, a voltage divider (also known as a potential divider) is a linear circuit that produces an output voltage (V_out) that is a fraction of its input voltage (V_in). Voltage division refers to the partitioning of a voltage among the components of the divider.

An example of a voltage divider consists of two resistors in series or a potentiometer. It is commonly used to create a reference voltage, or to get a low voltage signal proportional to the voltage to be measured, and may also be used as a signal attenuator at low frequencies. For direct current and relatively low frequencies, a voltage divider may be sufficiently accurate if made only of resistors; where frequency response over a wide range is required, (such as in an oscilloscope probe), the voltage divider may have capacitive elements added to allow compensation for load capacitance. In electric power transmission, a capacitive voltage divider is used for measurement of high voltage.