Getting started with basic electronics is easier than you might think. This Instructable will hopefully demystify the basics of electronics so that anyone with an interest in building circuits can hit the ground running. This is a quick overview into practical electronics and it is not my goal to delve deeply into the science of electrical engineering. If you are interested in learning more about the science of basic electronics, Wikipedia is a good place to start your search.
By the end of this Instructable, anyone with an interest to learn basic electronics should be able to read a schematic and build a circuit using standard electronic components.
By the end of this Instructable, anyone with an interest to learn basic electronics should be able to read a schematic and build a circuit using standard electronic components.
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Signing UpStep 1: Electricity
There are two types of electrical signals , those being alternating current (AC), and direct current (DC).
With alternating current, the direction electricity flows throughout the circuit is constantly reversing. You may even say that it is alternating direction. The rate of reversal is measured in Hertz, which is the number of reversals per second. So, when they say that the US power supply is 60 Hz, what they mean is that it is reversing 120 times per second (twice per cycle).
With Direct Current, electricity flows in one direction between power and ground. In this arrangement there is always a positive source of voltage and ground (0V) source of voltage. You can test this by reading a battery with a multimeter. For great instructions on how to do this, check out Ladyada's multimeter page (you will want to measure voltage in particular).
Speaking of voltage, electricity is typically defined as having a voltage and a current rating. Voltage is obviously rated in Volts and current is rated in Amps. For instance, a brand new 9V battery would have a voltage of 9V and a current of around 500mA (500 milliamps).
Electricity can also be defined in terms of resistance and watts. We will talk a little bit about resistance in the next step, but I am not going to be going over Watts in depth. As you delve deeper into electronics you will encounter components with Watt ratings. It is important to never exceed the Wattage rating of a component, but fortunately that Wattage of your DC power supply can easily be calculated by multiplying the voltage and current of your power source.
If you want a better understanding of these different measurements, what they mean, and how they relate, check out this informative video on Ohm's Law.
Most basic electronic circuits use DC electricity. As such, all further discussion of electricity will revolve around DC electricity.
With alternating current, the direction electricity flows throughout the circuit is constantly reversing. You may even say that it is alternating direction. The rate of reversal is measured in Hertz, which is the number of reversals per second. So, when they say that the US power supply is 60 Hz, what they mean is that it is reversing 120 times per second (twice per cycle).
With Direct Current, electricity flows in one direction between power and ground. In this arrangement there is always a positive source of voltage and ground (0V) source of voltage. You can test this by reading a battery with a multimeter. For great instructions on how to do this, check out Ladyada's multimeter page (you will want to measure voltage in particular).
Speaking of voltage, electricity is typically defined as having a voltage and a current rating. Voltage is obviously rated in Volts and current is rated in Amps. For instance, a brand new 9V battery would have a voltage of 9V and a current of around 500mA (500 milliamps).
Electricity can also be defined in terms of resistance and watts. We will talk a little bit about resistance in the next step, but I am not going to be going over Watts in depth. As you delve deeper into electronics you will encounter components with Watt ratings. It is important to never exceed the Wattage rating of a component, but fortunately that Wattage of your DC power supply can easily be calculated by multiplying the voltage and current of your power source.
If you want a better understanding of these different measurements, what they mean, and how they relate, check out this informative video on Ohm's Law.
Most basic electronic circuits use DC electricity. As such, all further discussion of electricity will revolve around DC electricity.
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I am a nurse And I don't have any idea about electronics.
I would like to learn more about it. can you please give me some advice on what specific topic should I start reading. I m interested more about ways on how to convert heat to electricity and also about making simple machines or gadgets.
Try Simple Bots:
http://www.instructables.com/simplebots
NPN: collector (input?) ---> emitter (output?)
PNP: emitter (output?) ---> collector (input?)
I see 3 pins on the transistors in your pic..from left to right on NPN with part number facing you, are these collector, emitter and ground? If so, are the pins the same in the PNP transistor? If they aren't in a specific order, then how does one tell which is which? Or, are the connections assumed because they perform specific behaviors? In other words, the transistor "knows" the difference between the small amount of electricity and the large amount of electricity?
When I hear the word amplify, I think of sound. I removed the electrical components from the circuit board (car had no body or light covers) and ended up with quite a few transistors. Does this mean that car was designed to include sound? Or, can transistors be used to amplify the energy in non-audible objects? For example, would I find a transistor in a variable speed rc car with no lights or sound?
Thank you for your instructable.
The pin order will either be marked on the transistor or can be looked up on a datasheet. The word amplify only means "make larger" and is often used in reference to sound but in this case we are talking about the number of electrons flowing through the circuit or the waveform being made bigger. transistors are used to make a signal wave bigger or sometimes to modify the shape of the waveform. In a sound system, the electrons are used to move the cone of the speaker which we perceive as sound, but it can also be used to change the frequency and brightness of light like in a TV or the signals in your RC car to turn or for speed..
Transistors evolved from the vacuum tubes, which were also known as electron valves. Sometimes it's easier to think of them that way. A transistor can do many things, including amplify. It can act as a switch. And I won't even get into impedance matching.
This could get really complicated. If you'd like to more, let me know.
To figure out which pin is which on the transistor, you would need to look up the datasheet for the part number that is written on the transistor. The datasheet will have a picture or diagram to tell you which pin is which.
In terms of NPN versus PNP... the PNP is wired with an opposite polarity to the NPN.
So...
NPN --> Collector = power ---> emitter = ground
PNP --> Collector = ground ---> emitter = power
just wondering, what is the output voltage of circuit three? I have built this circuit but it didn't work, I guess the 555 overheated. is it possible to blow the 555 while soldering? or maybe my 8 ohm 1 watt loudspeaker was too large.
Thanks! :))
This is Really A good thing for us that are trying to figgure out how to understand whats what.
Thank you