High level overview of electronics

1. Basic
(and I mean BASIC)
Electronics

2. PTGMKMMNP

3. Charge
• Everything has charge. It is either positive or
negative.
• Charge is like gravity. It just “is.”

4. Voltage (V)
• Is a measurement of electrical potential.
• How many Volts are there in the wall outlet?
• How many volts are in your stove or dryer outlet?
• Static electricity has about 20,000 volts.

5. Current (I)
• Is a measurement of Electrical “flow.”
• Measured in Amperes aka “Amps”
• Lightning has about 30,000 Amps

6. Direct Current (DC)
• When current flows in a constant direction, it is “Direct Current.”
• It can be positive or negative (ie +5.0VDC of -5.0VDC)
• Batteries, computers, cell phones, etc, work on DC

7. Alternating Current (AC)
• When current flows in “both” directions, it is
Alternating Current (AC)
• It is positive and negative at different times.
• Just about everything else runs on AC.

8. Compare AC vs DC

9. Cycle
• A measurement of “frequency” (think of speed)
• Known as “Hertz” and sometimes known as a “flop.”
• In a standard home outlet, what is the Hertz?
• What is the Frequency of your favorite radio station?

10. 5 Hertz

11. Resistance (R)
• A measurement of how well current can flow (or
not flow)
• Measured in Ohms.

12. Watt
• A measurement of power.
• Volts X Amps = Watts

13. Why do we care?

14. Quick Quiz
Bit
Cycle
Volt
Resistance
Watt
Flow
Hertz
Ohm
AC
Byte
DC
PTGMKMMNP
Negative
Positive
Amperes
Frequency
V=IR
P=VI