HOW TO READ CIRCUIT DIAGRAMS

this instructable will show you exactly how to read all those confusing circuit diagrams and then how to assemble the circuits on a breadboard!

for all the electronics hobbyist wannabes this is a MUST-READ instructable.

knowing how to read circuits is a very useful skill that will help you out all the time. especially if you start messing around with building little electronics projects.

In addition to reading this instructable it may be a good idea for you to read my other instructable "electronics components and what they do" to get a good understanding of what you are doing when building a project. (woops not done with this yet, i got caught up with other stuff, check back in a week or so)

Step 1 So What Are All Those Symbols???

here is a little guide that shows you the basic symbols for all sorts of components. its handy to keep a little guide like this around in case you forgot some. Plus, while you're beginning you might have to refer to it pretty frequently. I have boxed the most common symbols in red, these are the ones you should get to know by heart. the others you can always refer back to the guide for.

dont be overwhelmed its simpler than you think, just stay with me

Comments

[drumerdude250]

I wish radioshack sold those kind of breadboards....

[apaterson1]

i'm struggling with one particular symbol it looks like lots of connected ohm signs or some interconnected circles can you tell me what this is *note* it is not an inductor or a coil

[4269srd]

i like it! but you should go into a little bigger schamatics. im going to see what other things u have. thanks!

[RANDOMFISHYFACE]

 the symbol for Diode(D),Photo and Gate,AND look exactly the same. what is up with that?

[kanishuw]

Yes. that's a mistake. The symbol of AND gate looks the same as NAND gate when you remove the dot near the output.

Symbol for NOR gate should have a dot similar to the NAND gate near the output.

[airgun_expert]

They aren't. You just can't see it because of image quality and size.

[RANDOMFISHYFACE]

 no sir they are the same if you click on the enlarged version (www.instructables.com/files/orig/FIW/DFTY/FW39JKC5/FIWDFTYFW39JKC5.jpg)
then zoom in on that area you will see that they are exactly the same

[PJcollazo]

Very helpful! I didn't remember this from a couple years back.

[PKTraceur]

I still don't understand how microchips, like 555 timers and those other blac rectangles with like, 20 leads work. Nor do I get caps. For that matter, how the heck does electricity flow? Oh well, camera tasers are still awesome. -PKT

[aplauche]

micro chips are very complicated small circuits. they are built out of the same things as most circuits: resistors, capacitors, transistors, etc.... just shrunk way down. hence micro. so really a micro chip is just a very tiny circuit board pre-made for your use

[PKTraceur]

Your the first one in 3 years to make microchips actually make sense. Thank you. -PKT

[Alfa_Romeo]

Great post this one, hope in your next post you will go "deep" in this matter

[tundrawolf]

Boy, that circuit looks almost edible. *Drools* resistorssssssss

[sageserver]

to help people understand how these parts work go to http://www.falstad.com/circuit
It taught me about ac curcuits.

[sageserver]

There are some variations for parts. Like leds can be a diode with 2 arrows going out. regarding the schematic for the flashlight, usually theres not a resistor becuase resistors just throw away current, and flashlights(bulb type) are not LEDS.

[aplauche]

i know, but i wanted something that could be constructed with very little cost on a simple breadboard so people could get the experiance. this instructable really isnt about the flashlight, its about understanding schematics like the title says. i just chose a simple led you could turn on and off so that people could really see that their circuit worked

[sageserver]

the first curcuit i did that used an IC is a simple 555 timer curcuit. very easy to understand.

[Iridium7]

sorry to bother you so much but I have a lot of questions, can you take a piece of bread board and break it to the size you want and have it still work?

[aplauche]

no problem. it should still work, i have done that before with no problems so im fairly sure its okay to do

[Iridium7]

where is a good place to get circut/breadboards?

[aplauche]

i got mine from radioshack, although i've heard you can get them for cheaper at online dealers. <br/><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=breadboard">http://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=breadboard</a><br/><br/>there are a bunch of different sizes on that site. it all depends on what size project you are doing for what size you want. this little light thing wouldnt take much space at all for instance<br/>

[Iridium7]

and what did you use for the resistor and the wires on the gram cracker thing?

[Phenomenal]

Is your graham cracker circuit in step 2 a blinking light?

[aplauche]

yes actually, it is.

[elleadnih]

and in here http://www.instructables.com/id/SZU4RKFFVMQZSE1/

whats the scare thingy there, and the arrows in the diodes?

[aplauche]

hmmm... you mean the thing with a bunch of gray dots in it? the LPT?
its actually a port on your computer. each gray thing represents a different pin on the port.

i think its something kind of like this.

http://www.4rows.com/images/miata/SerialLink/P1002271.jpg

[elleadnih]

yea thnx I was saying the other cuare but I now know what it is thnx and great instructible really helped me

[elleadnih]

hey a big question, at the excercice you put in this instructible the las part is a diode, now here's my question "Is a Diode a LED? or is it first the diode soldered to the LED?" I know a LED is a Light Emitting Diode, its just for confirmation...

[aplauche]

an LED is a type of diode. there are other types of diodes as well. in this case the diode symbol IS an LED, its just there is no specific LED symbol so the general diode symbol is used

[elleadnih]

square*

[gmoon]

Kind of strange to use a tube circuit schematic for the opening illustration, as there are no tube symbols on the keys sheets in step 1... Maybe replacing it with a transistorized circuit would be helpful.

[aplauche]

haha yeah i just put a random circuit image for my main image. i should probably change it to something less complicated

[aplauche]

to the admins, i accidentally entered this into the art of sound contest. please ignore this entry.