BASICS OF ELECTRONICS

An Electronic Component is a basic electronic element and may be available in a discrete form having two or more electrical terminals (or leads). These are intended to be connected together, usually by soldering to a printed circuit board, in order to create an electronic circuit with a particular function (for example an amplifier, radio receiver, or oscillator). Basic electronic components may be packaged discretely or integrated inside of packages. The following list of electronic components focuses on the discrete version of these components treating such packages as components in their own right.

Fig. 1.1 Various Components.

CLASSIFICATION
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A Component may be classified as Passive or Active. The strict physics definition treats passive components as ones that cannot supply energy themselves; whereas a battery would be seen as an active component since it truly acts as a source of energy.

Electronic Components

Active Components

Passive Componenets

PASSIVE COMPONENTS
They are ones which cannot introduce net energy into the circuit they are connected to. They also cannot rely on a source of power except for what is available from the (AC) circuit they are connected to. As a consequence they are unable to amplify (increase the power of a signal); although they may increase a voltage or current such as is done by a transformer or resonant circuit. Passive components include two-terminal components such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, and transformers. Passive Components Can Be Further Divided Into Lossless and Lossy Components

ACTIVE COMPONENTS
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They rely on a source of energy (usually from the DC circuit, which we have chosen to ignore) and are usually able to inject power into a circuit. This includes amplifying components such as transistors, triode vacuum tubes (valves), and tunnel diodes.

ELECTRONICS COMPONENTS 1. TERMINALS AND CONNECTORS:

Devices To Make Electrical Connection Are:

TERMINAL:

A Terminal is the point at which a conductor from an electrical network comes to an end and provides a point of connection to external circuit. The connection may be temporary, as for portable equipment, or may be required as a tool for assembly and removal, or may be a permanent electrical joint between two wires or devices.

CONNECTOR:
o o o

Socket Screw terminal, Terminal Blocks Pin header

POWER CORD:
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A Power Cord, Line Cord, or Mains Cable is a cable that temporarily connects an appliance to the mains electricity supply via a wall socket or extension cord. These terms generally use a power plug to connect to a singlephase alternating current power source at the local line voltage (Generally 100 To 240 Volts, Depending On The Location). The terms Power Cable, Mains Lead or Flex are also used. Power cables may be either fixed or detachable from the appliance.

CABLE ASSEMBLIES: Cables with connectors or terminals at their ends.

2.

RESISTORS

A Resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical resistance as a circuit element. The current through a resistor is in direct proportion to the voltage across the resistor's terminals. Thus, the ratio of the voltage applied across a resistor's terminals to the intensity of current through the circuit is called Resistance. This relation is represented by Ohm's Law:

Types Of Resistors
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RESISTOR: Fixed Value. VARIABLE RESISTOR:

o

Rheostat Two Terminal Variable Resistors (Often For High Power).

Potentiometer Three Terminal Variable Resistor (Variable Voltage Divider).

Trim pot Small Potentiometer, Usually for Internal Adjustments.

HEATER: Heating Element. RESISTANCE WIRE, NICHROME WIRE: Wire of High-Resistance Material, Often Used As Heating Element.

THERMISTOR: Temperature Varied Resistor. VARISTOR, VOLTAGE DEPENDENT RESISTOR, AND MOV: Passes Current When Excessive Voltage Present.

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Table 1.1 Colours Coding Of Resistors.

3.

CAPACITORS

A Capacitor (originally known as condenser) is a passive two-terminal electrical component used to store energy in an electric field. The forms of practical capacitors vary widely, but all contain at least two electrical conductors separated by a dielectric (insulator); for example, one common construction consists of metal foils separated by a thin layer of insulating film. Capacitors are widely used as parts of electrical circuits in many common electrical devices. When there is a potential difference (voltage) across the conductors, a static electric field develops across the dielectric, causing positive charge to collect on one plate and negative charge on the other plate. Energy is stored in the electrostatic field. An ideal capacitor is characterized by a single constant value, capacitance, measured in farads. This is the ratio of the electric charge on each conductor to the potential difference between them. Types Of Capacitors: POLYMER CAPACITORS: (OS-CON, OC-CON) capacitors use solid conductive polymer (or polymerized organic semiconductor) as electrolyte and offer longer life and lower ESR at higher cost than standard electrolytic capacitors.

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 VARIABLE CAPACITORS: With their plates open to the atmosphere were commonly used in radio tuning circuits. Later designs use polymer foil dielectric between the moving and stationary plates, with no significant air space between them. ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITOR: The most important characteristic of electrolytic capacitor is that they have polarity. They have a positive and negative electrode. This means that it is very important which way round they are connected. If the capacitor is subjected to voltage exceeding its working voltage or if it is connected with incorrect polarity it may burst.

4.

POWER SOURCES
BATTERY: A Battery is a device that converts stored chemical energy to electrical energy. Batteries are commonly used as energy sources in many household and industrial applications. FUEL: An Electrochemical Generator. POWER SUPPLY: Usually A Mains Hook-Up. PHOTO VOLTAIC DEVICE: Generates Electricity From Light.

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 THERMO ELECTRIC GENERATOR: Generates Electricity From Temperature Gradients. ELECTRICAL GENERATOR: An Electrochemical Power Source.

4.

SEMICONDUCTORS:
DIODES:

A Diode is a two-terminal electronic component that conducts electric current in only one direction. The term usually refers to a semiconductor diode. This is a crystalline piece of semiconductor material connected to two electrical terminals. A vacuum tube diode (now little used except in some high-power technologies) is a vacuum tube with two electrodes: a plate and a cathode. The most common function of a diode is to allow an electric current to pass in one direction (called the diode's forward direction), while blocking current in the opposite direction diodes can have more complicated behaviour than this simple on-off action. This is due to their complex non-linear electrical characteristics, which can be tailored by varying the construction of their P-N junction. These are exploited in special purpose diodes that perform many different functions.

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Today most diodes are made of silicon but other semiconductors such as germanium are sometimes. Types Of Diodes: 1. ZENER DIODES: Zener diodes (c & d) are designed to stabilize a voltage. The diodes are marked as ZPD5.6V or ZPY15V having the operating voltages of 5.6V and 15V. 2. PHOTO DIODES: Photo diodes (e) are constructed in a way that they allow light to fall on the P-N connection .when there is no light, a photo diode act as a regular diode. It has high resistance in one direction, and low in other direction .when there is light, both resistances are low. Photo diodes and LEDs are the main items in an optocoupler. 3. TUNNEL DIODES: Tunnel diodes (f & g) diodes are commonly used in oscillator for very high frequency. 4. SCHOTTKY DIODES: Schottky diodes (h) are used for high frequency circuits and for its low voltage drop in the forward direction. 5. BREAKDOWN DIODES: Breakdown diodes (i) are actually Zener diodes used in various devices for protection and voltage regulation. It passes the current only when voltage is rises above a pre defined value.
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6. VARICAP DIODE: Varicap diodes (j) are used instead of a variable capacitor in high frequency circuits. When the voltage across it is changed, the capacitor between cathode and anode is changed. This diode is commonly used in radio receivers, transceivers and oscillators. 7. POWER DIODES: They are marked with a symbol engraved on the housing. If a diode is housing in a metal package, the case is generally the cathode and anode is the lead coming from the housing.

Table.1.2 a.Diodes; b. LED; c, d.Zener; e. Photo; f, g. Tunnel; h.Schottky; i. Breakdown; j. Capacitive. TRANSISTORS:

A Transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and power. It is composed of a semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current flowing through another pair of terminals. Because the controlled (output) power can be higher than the controlling (input) power, a transistor can amplify a signal.
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Today, some transistors are packaged individually, but many more are found embedded in integrated circuits. The transistor is the fundamental building block of modern electronic devices, and is ubiquitous in modern electronic systems. Following its development in the early 1950s the transistor revolutionized the field of electronics, and paved the way for smaller and cheaper radios, calculators, and computers, among other things. Types of Transistors: 1. BIPOLAR JUNCTION: Bipolar Transistors are so named because they conduct by using both majority and minority carriers. The bipolar junction transistor (BJT), the first type of transistor to be mass-produced, is a combination of two junction diodes, and is formed of either a thin layer of p-type semiconductor sandwiched between two n-type semiconductors (an n-p-n transistor), or a thin layer of ntype semiconductor sandwiched between two p-type semiconductors (a p-n-p transistor). This construction produces two p-n junctions: a baseemitter junction and a basecollector junction, separated by a thin region of semiconductor known as the base region (two junction diodes wired together without sharing an intervening semiconducting region will not make a transistor).

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2. FIELD EFFECT: The Field Effect Transistor (FET), sometimes called a unipolar transistor, uses either electrons (in N-channel FET) or holes (in P-channel FET) for conduction. The four terminals of the FET are named source, gate, drain, and body (substrate). On most FETs, the body is connected to the source inside the package, and this will be assumed for the following description.

INTEGRATED CIRCUITS (ICs):

An Integrated Circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as IC, chip, or microchip) is an electronic circuit manufactured by lithography, or the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material. Additional materials are deposited and patterned to form interconnections between semiconductor devices. Integrated circuits are used in virtually all electronic equipment today and have revolutionized the world of electronics. Computers, mobile phones, and other digital home appliances are now inextricable parts of the structure of modern societies, made possible by the low cost of production of integrated circuits.

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 LIGHT EMITTING DIODE (LED):

A Light Emitting Diode (LED) is a semiconductor light source. LEDs are used as indicator lamps in many devices and are increasingly used for other lighting. Introduced as a practical electronic component in 1962, early LEDs emitted low-intensity red light, but modern versions are available across the visible, ultraviolet, and infrared wavelengths, with very high brightness. When a light-emitting diode is forward-biased (switched on), electrons are able to recombine with electron holes within the device, releasing energy in the form of photons. This effect is called electroluminescence and the color of the light (corresponding to the energy of the photon) is determined by the energy gap of the semiconductor. LEDs are often small in area (less than 1 mm2), and integrated optical components may be used to shape its radiation pattern. LEDs present many advantages over incandescent light sources including lower energy consumption, longer lifetime, improved robustness, smaller size, and faster switching. LEDs powerful enough for room lighting are relatively expensive and require more precise current and heat management than compact fluorescent lamp sources of comparable output. Types Of LEDs: 1. MINIATURE:

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These are mostly Single Die LEDs used as indicators, and they come in various sizes from 2 mm to 8 mm, through-hole and surface mount packages. They usually do not use a separate heat sink. Typical ratings range from around 1 mA to above 20 mA. The small size sets a natural upper boundary on power consumption due to heat caused by the high current density and need for a heat sink. 2. MID RANGE: Medium Power LEDs are often through-hole-mounted and used when an output of a few lumen is needed. They sometimes have the diode mounted to four leads (two cathode leads, two anode leads) for better heat conduction and carry an integrated lens. An example of this is the Super flux package, from Philips Lumileds. These LEDs are most commonly used in light panels, emergency lighting, and automotive tail-lights. Due to the larger amount of metal in the LED, they are able to handle higher currents (around 100 mA). The higher current allows for the higher light output required for tail-lights and emergency lighting.

3. HIGH POWER: High Power LEDs (HPLED) can be driven at currents from hundreds of mA to more than an ampere, compared with the tens of mA for other LEDs.
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Some can emit over a thousand lumens. Since overheating is destructive, the HPLEDs must be mounted on a heat sink to allow for heat dissipation. If the heat from a HPLED is not removed, the device will fail in seconds. One HPLED can often replace an incandescent bulb in a flashlight, or be set in an array to form a powerful LED lamp.

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