What is the purpose of a voltage divider circuit?

A voltage divider circuit is designed specifically to produce a lower voltage output from a higher voltage source. This is accomplished by using two or more resistors in series, where the output voltage is taken from the junction of the resistors. The principle behind this function is based on Ohm's law and voltage division, which allows the circuit to proportionally share the input voltage based on the resistance values.

For example, if a voltage divider is made up of two equal resistors, the output voltage will be half of the source voltage. This characteristic makes voltage dividers useful in various applications, such as masking voltages for sensor inputs, interfacing different logic levels, or in signal processing where lower voltages are required for operation.

The other options represent functions that a voltage divider is not designed to perform. For instance, increasing voltage, protecting against overloads, or converting AC to DC falls outside the scope of what a voltage divider circuit is intended to do. Hence, the primary and definitive role of a voltage divider is to produce a voltage that is lower than that of the source voltage.