Re: 3.3V and 5V
ok here's the thing .. the chip has an input resistance that acts parrallel to one of the dividers resistor and messes up the divider ratio!!
case1:
if the supplied chip draws a constant current from the supply, hence it has a constant input resistance.
in this case, u CAN use ONLY a voltage divider BUT!!!. if u dont know the input resistance u can not determine the values of the 2 resistors that makes up the divider.
what u can do in this case is to fix one resistor say(a 10KΩ) and then have the othe resistor as variable resistor which you could change inorder to get the output u need from it .. this calibration is done WITH the chip connected to the divider.
case2:
if the supplied chip draw a variable current. then u have to add either a regulator or a buffer between the divider and the chip.
again thats is needed becuse the chip has an input resistance that acts parrallel to one of the dividers resistor and messes up the divider ratio!!