2. Electronics
To begin, definitions:
ELECTRICITY: Refers to devices or practices that involve the management
of big amounts of electric power. Ex (engines, power supply plants, etc.).
ELECTRONICS: Refers to devices or practices that involve the management
of small amounts of electric power. Ex (cellphones, TVs, etc.).
Here, we will only work electronics.
3. Properties of electricity
In electric circuits, we can understand electricity by its
properties:
VOLTAGE (Volts): Voltage is what makes electrons move.
It is the 'push' that causes charges to move in a wire or
other electrical conductor. It can be thought of as the
force that pushes the charges, but it is not a force.
CURRENT (Amp): Flow of electrons in a circuit, is the
amount of electrons that move from one place to another.
RESISTANCE (Ohm): The electrical resistance of an
electrical conductor is a measure of the difficulty of
passing an electric current through a substance
4. Basic electronic components
To complete a circuit, we will always use a battery as a source of power and
cables to connect the components, beside those, the basic electronic components
that we are going to use are:
Resistors.
Motors.
LEDs.
Buzzers.
Potentiometers.
LDRs.
Pushbuttons.
Transistors.
5. Support components
RESISTORS TRANSISTORS
Resistors are components that we use in order to
limit the amount of current that flows in the
circuit, they are mostly used in combination with
other components and work to prevent the
damage the sensors and actuators.
Transistors are components that control the flow of
current in parts of the circuit, depending on a signal,
they are sensors and actuators at the same time.
6. Actuators
MOTORS LEDs BUZZERS
Motors transform electricity into
motion, depending on the direction
of the current, they can change the
direction of the spin.
LEDs transform electricity into
light, they must be connected in a
specific order, understanding that
the longest lead goes always to
positive in the circuit.
Buzzers transform electricity into
sound, they must be connected in a
specific order, understanding that
the longest lead goes always to
positive in the circuit.
7. Sensors
LDRs Potentiometers Pushbuttons
LDRs (Light Depending Resistors)
change their resistivity depending
on the light conditions around; the
more light, more resistivity it will
have in the circuit.
Potentiometers change their
resistivity depending on the
position of the shaft; being rotated
in a clockwise direction, more
resistivity it will have in the circuit
Pushbuttons connect/disconnect
parts in a circuit; if the button is
pressed, the circuit is closed, if the
button is released, the circuit is
open.
