555 TIMER - INTRODUCTION

The

555 Timer

very cheap, popular and useful precision

timing 8-pin device
act as :
a simple timer to generate single pulses or
long time delays,
a relaxation oscillator producing stabilized
waveforms of varying duty cycles from 50 to
100%.
extremely robust and stable
can be operated either as a very accurate
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Monostable, Bistable or Astable Multivibrator.

555 TIMER - INTRODUCTION

Applications :

one-shot or delay timers,

pulse generation,
LED and lamp flashers,
alarms and tone generation,
logic clocks,
frequency division,
power supplies and converters etc,
in fact any circuit that requires some form of
time control.
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CIRCUIT SYMBOL & PIN ARRANGEMENTS

INTERNAL BLOCK DIAGRAM

PIN FUNCTIONS

Pin 1 (Ground):

** Vcc - rail voltage

Connects to the 0v power supply.

Pin 2 (Trigger): INPUT pins.

Detects 1/3Vcc to make output HIGH. Pin 2 has

control over pin 6.

A negative pulse due to voltage drops below 1/3Vcc

causing the output to switch from LOW to HIGH.

Monitors the discharging of the timing capacitor in

astable circuit.

PIN FUNCTIONS
Pin 3 (Output):

555 timer's output is digital in nature. It is either high

or low.

The output is either low, which is very close to 0V, or

high, which is close to the supply voltage that's placed
on pin 8.

The output pin is where you would connect the load

that you want the 555 timer to power e.g : LED

PIN FUNCTIONS

Pin 4 (Reset):

This pin can be used to restart the 555 timer's timing

operation.
Internally connected HIGH via 100k. Must be taken below
0.8v to reset the chip.
When less than 0.7V, makes the output LOW, overriding
other inputs.
This is an active low input, just like the trigger input. Thus,
pin 4 must be connected to the supply voltage of the 555 timer
to operate.
If it is momentarily grounded, the 555 timer's operation is
interrupted and won't start again until it's triggered again via
pin 2.
It is generally connected to VCC when not used to prevent any
unwanted resetting of the output.
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PIN FUNCTIONS

Pin 5 (Control):

This pin controls the timing of the 555 timer by overriding the
2/3Vcc level of the voltage divider network.

By applying a voltage to this pin the width of the output

signal can be varied independently of the RC timing network.

When not used, it is connected to ground via a 0.01 F

capacitor to eliminate VCC supply noise.

Can be left unconnected if noise is not a problem.

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PIN FUNCTIONS

Pin 6 (Threshold):

Detects 2/3Vcc to make output LOW only if pin 2 is HIGH.

This pin has a very high impedance (about 10M) and will
trigger with about 0.2uA.

Monitors the charging of the timing capacitor in astable

and monostable circuits.

PIN FUNCTIONS

Pin 7 (Discharge): NOT an input pin;

used to discharge timing capacitor to ground

when the output pin 3 switches LOW in astable
and monostable circuits.

Pin 8 (Supply):
Connects to the positive power supply (Vs).
This can be any voltage between 4.5V and 15V DC, but is
commonly 5V DC when working with digital ICs.

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OPERATION MODES
MONOSTABLE

Functions as a one shot

the circuit produces one pulse of a set length
in response to a trigger input.
It is stable in just one state : output LOW
Unstable state : output HIGH (state is
temporary).
The output stays LOW until it is triggered.

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MONOSTABLE OPERATION

Summary of operation :
Trigger (Pin 2) : V2 < 1/3 Vs output (Pin 3) : +Vs
Threshold (Pin 6) : V6 > 2/3 Vs output (Pin 3) : 0

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OPERATION MODES

A negative-going pulse (Pin 2) triggers on the circuit, the

trigger pulse must be shorter than the output pulse
width.

To allow the timing capacitor to charge and discharge fully.

Once triggered, output goes HIGH until the time period

(pulse width) has elapsed.
1/3 Vs

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555 pin 6

The timing period is triggered (started) when the

trigger input (pin 2) is less than 1/3 Vs, this makes the
output high (+Vs) and the capacitor C1 starts to charge
through resistor R1.
Once the time period has started further trigger pulses
are ignored.
The threshold input (pin 6) monitors the voltage
across C1 and when this reaches 2/3 Vs the time period
is over and the output becomes low.
The duration of the pulse is called the time period (T)
and this is determined by resistor R1 and capacitor C1:

time period, T = 1.1 R1 C1

The time period, T is independent of the supply voltage.

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At the same time discharge (pin 7) is connected to 0V,

discharging the capacitor ready for the next trigger.
The reset input (pin 4) overrides all other inputs and
the timing may be cancelled at any time by connecting
reset to 0V, this instantly makes the output low and
discharges the capacitor.

If the reset function is not required the reset pin should be

connected to +Vs.

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OPERATION MODES
ASTABLE

Functions as a free running , oscillator.

the circuit produces square wave output.
It has NO stable state : output changes
between LOW and HIGH continuously.

Trigger

(pin 2) and threshold (pin 6) are

connected together so that it continually triggers
itself.
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ASTABLE OPERATION

Summary of operation :

Trigger (Pin 2) : V2 = 1/3 Vs output (Pin 3) : +Vs (HIGH)

Threshold (Pin 6) : V6 = 2/3 Vs output (Pin 3) : 0 (LOW)

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ASTABLE OPERATION

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With the output high (+Vs) the capacitor C1 is charged

by current flowing through R1 and R2.
The threshold and trigger inputs monitor the capacitor
voltage and when it reaches 2/3Vs (threshold voltage) the
output becomes low and the discharge pin is connected to
0V.
The capacitor now discharges with current flowing
through R2 into the discharge pin. When the voltage falls
to 1/3Vs (trigger voltage) the output becomes high again
and the discharge pin is disconnected, allowing the
capacitor to start charging again.
This cycle repeats continuously unless the reset input is
connected to 0V which forces the output low while reset19
is 0V.

The time period (T) of the square wave is the time for
one complete cycle, and frequency (f) which is the
number of cycles per second.

T = 0.693 (R1 + 2R2) C1 and f =

1.44
(R1 + 2R2) C1
The time period can be split into two parts:
T = Tm + Ts
Mark time (output high): Tm = 0.693 (R1 + R2) C1
Space time (output low): Ts = 0.693 R2 C1

Many circuits require Tm and Ts to be almost equal; this

is achieved if R2 is much larger than R1.
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The duty cycle of an astable circuit is the ratio of the

mark time (output is high)to time for one complete cycle.
It is usually given as a percentage.
For a standard 555 astable circuit the mark time (Tm)
must be greater than the space time (Ts), so the duty
cycle must be at least 50%:
Duty cycle =
Tm
= R1 + R2
Tm + Ts R1 + 2R2

Illustrations of different duty cycles

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OPERATION MODES
BISTABLE

Functions as a flip-flop .
the circuit produces square wave output.
They flip to one state when triggered then
flop to other state when reset.
It is stable in TWO states : output LOW and
HIGH.

Control

(pin 5) and discharge (pin 7) pins are not

used.
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BISTABLE OPERATION
R1

R2

Summary of operation :

Trigger (Pin 2) : V2 < 1/3 Vs

output (Pin 3) : +Vs

Reset (Pin 4) : V4 < 0.7 V

output (Pin 3) : 0

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BISTABLE OPERATION
Vs

Trigger
Pin 2
1/3Vs

Reset
Pin 4

Vs

Output
Pin 3

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The switching of the output waveform is achieved by

controlling the trigger and reset inputs which are held
"HIGH" by the resistors, R1 and R2.
By pushing the trigger input (pin 2) to ground, setting it
to LOW, drives the output into the HIGH state.
By pushing the reset input (pin 4) to ground, setting it to
LOW, drives the output into the LOW state.
This 555 timer circuit will remain in either state
indefinitely and is therefore bistable.

It has no associated time constants, so NO equations!

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BUFFER (SCHMITT TRIGGER)

Summary of operation :

Input < 1/3 Vs ;

Input > 2/3 Vs ;

output (Pin 3) : +Vs

output (Pin 3) : 0

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BUFFER (SCHMITT TRIGGER)

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It is an inverting buffer or NOT gate because the output

logic state (low/high) is the inverse of the input state:
Input low (< 1/3 Vs) makes output high, +Vs
Input high (> 2/3 Vs) makes output low, 0V

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When the input voltage is between 1/3 and 2/3 Vs the

output remains in its present state. This intermediate
input region is a deadspace where there is no response, a
property called hysteresis.
Hysteresis gives the input a high immunity to noise
because once the circuit output has switched high or low
the input must change back by at least 1/3 Vs to make the
output switch back.

Schmitt Triggers have a convention to show a gate that is

also a Schmitt Trigger, shown below.

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