MediaTheory&Practice

BASICELECTRONICS

BASICELECTRONICS
DavidWilliams
&MichaelShiloh

2003MakingThingsLLC

MediaTheory&Practice

BASICELECTRONICS

OVERVIEW
Session1

Electricityiskindoflikewater
TheComponentsInside

Session2

TheBinaryMiracle
Switchescandoallthat?

Arrangethemjustright,andyouhaveacomputer
Thecomputerdoeswhatyousaymillionsoftimesasecond
Reconnectingtotherealworld

MediaTheory&Practice

BASICELECTRONICS

ELECTRICITYISLIKEWATER

MediaTheory&Practice

BASICELECTRONICS

LEVELSOFUNDERSTANDING
Howmuchdoyouneedtoknow?
Toownacaryoudonotneedtounderstandthedetails
ofinternalcombustionengines,butthedetailsleak
out:gasoline,oil,batteries
Todoelectronicsyoudon'tneedadegreeinmaterials
scienceorsolidstatephysics,butthedetails
sometimesleakout:voltage,current,OhmsLaw,
etc.
Thissessionandthenextarewhatwethinkyou'llneed
toknowtobegintohaveanintuitivegraspoverthe
fieldofelectronics.

MediaTheory&Practice

BASICELECTRONICS

ELECTRICITY
Thinkofelectricityflowinglikewaterinapipe
Theanalogytowaterisnotperfect,butithelps.
Electronsarepresentandquitemoveablein
everyconductor.
Electricityistheorderedflowofelectronsina
conductor.

MediaTheory&Practice

BASICELECTRONICS

VOLTAGEANDCURRENT
Voltageislikewaterpressure
MeasuredinVolts,V
Currentislikewatervolume
MeasuredinAmps,A
1/1000thofanAmpisamilliampmA
PowerisVoltagexCurrent
MeasuredinWatts,W
1/1000thofaWattisamilliwattmW

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BASICELECTRONICS

RESISTANCE
Almosteverythingthatconductselectricityhas
aresistance.Itdoesntconductitperfectly.
ResistanceismeasuredinOhms()
1000=1k1,000,000=1M

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BASICELECTRONICS

OHMSLAW
RelatesVoltageandCurrentinasimplecircuit
V=IR
Volts=Current(I)xResistance(R)
(thismeansI=V/RandR=V/I)

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BASICELECTRONICS

CIRCUITSWATERANDELECTRICITY
Acircuitneedsa
completepath,
andasourceof
energy

Electricity,like
water,flows
onlywhenit
can.

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BASICELECTRONICS

CIRCUITDIAGRAMSI
CircuitDiagrams(alsocalledSchematics)area
compacteasywaytorepresentcircuits.
Onlytheessentialdetailsarerepresented.
LiketheLondonUndergrounddrawnfor
humanuse

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BASICELECTRONICS

CIRCUITDIAGRAMSII
Morerealisticdiagram
Vcc&GndConnections
Manypaths
Chip(LM555)
Resistors,Capacitors
Nonliterallineconnections
Optionalparts

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BASICELECTRONICS

PRINTEDCIRCUITBOARDS
Whenwiringupcircuitswithwiresistoomuch
work
Eachtrace(thinstripofcopper)replacesone
wire

MediaTheory&Practice

BASICELECTRONICS

DEMONSTRATIONCIRCUITS
Objectives
Showasimplecircuit
Measurevoltages&current
Materials
BatteryandLamp
Multimeter

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BASICELECTRONICS

COMPONENTS
Thecomponentsthatmakeupacircuit

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BASICELECTRONICS

CONDUCTORS
Connectionsareveryimportant
Manythingsareconductivecarchassis/saltywater
Strandedvs.SolidCore
Solidcoreismuchmorelikelytobreakwhenflexed
AWG(AmericanWireGauge)Standard
AWG16LargerPowerConnections
AWG18PowerConnections
AWG22GoodInterconnectionSize
AWG30Veryfinebreakseasily

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BASICELECTRONICS

CELLS&BATTERIES
ChemicalReactionscreatingelectricity

Leadacid(carbatteryapprox2V)
Alkaline(regularcellsapprox1.5V)
LithiumIon(latestrechargeableapprox3.6V)
FuelCells(newtechnology)
SolarCells(lightconvertedintoelectricity)
Fruit!(lemonswithcopperandzincelectrodes)
Canputtheminseries(endtoend)toincreasevoltage
Canputtheminparallel(sidebyside)toincrease
current

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BASICELECTRONICS

POWERSUPPLIES
Connectto110VACtoprovideelectricityina
differentform.
Beverycarefulwith110V!Itcankillyou.
Anythingover50Visdangerous.

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BASICELECTRONICS

SWITCHESANDPUSHBUTTONS
Connectanddisconnectcircuits

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BASICELECTRONICS

RESISTORS
Asthenamesuggeststendtopresentapartial
barriertoelectricityflow
Recall,ResistanceismeasuredinOhms()
1000=1k1,000,000=1M
Alsoneedtonoteratedpower(e.g.1/8W,5W)

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BASICELECTRONICS

POTENTIOMETERS
VariableResistors
Havearesistancethatvariesaccordingtothe
mechanicalpositionofoneofitswiper.

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BASICELECTRONICS

LIGHTEMITTINGDIODES(LEDs)
Tinylightsourcescomeinavarietyofcolors
Requireverysmallcurrentbutwilltakeallyou
offeralwaysusearesistor!Values
between300and1Kareuseful.

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BASICELECTRONICS

DEMONSTRATIONLEDs
Objectives
ShowhowtouseanLED
Showhowitonlyworksonewayround
Showhowyouneedaresistor
Showhowdifferentresistorsgivedifferent
brightnesses,potentiometers
Materials
Solderingiron/solder/wire
LED
Resistor/Potentiometer

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BASICELECTRONICS

CAPACITORS
Asthenamesuggeststendtostoreelectricity
likeaminibattery
MeasuredinFarads(F)
0.000001F=1F0.000000001=1pF
Alsoneedtonoteratedvoltage
Charging
Charge
d
Discharging

MediaTheory&Practice

BASICELECTRONICS

DEMONSTRATIONCAPACITORS
Objectives
Toshowcharginganddischarging
capacitors
ShowchargewithLED/resistor
ShowdischargewithLED/resistor
Materials
Capacitor(largevalue)
2xResistor/LEDcombo
SolderingIron,Solder

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BASICELECTRONICS

DIODES
Familyofcomponentswhichonlyletelectricity
flowoneway
Manydifferentkindseachwithdifferent
characteristics
Maincharacteristictonoteispower(W)

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BASICELECTRONICS

DEMONSTRATIONDIODES
Objectives
Toshowdiodesblockingcurrent
Materials
Powersupply
Diode
12VLamp
Solder/SolderingIron

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BASICELECTRONICS

SOLENOIDS
Electromagnets
Currentispassedthroughthecoilanda
magneticfieldiscreated
Usedtoreleaselatches,lockpartsinplace,etc.

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BASICELECTRONICS

MOTORS
Familyofcomponentsthatusesequenced
electricityandmagnetismtomakemovement
Voltage,Current,Torque&RPMoftenspecified

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BASICELECTRONICS

RELAYS
ElectromechanicalSwitchesApplyacurrent
tothecoilandtheconnectedswitchesare
connectedanddisconnected.
Carsuserelaystoswitch12V,500A!
SiliconRelaysalsoavailablewithnomoving
parts

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BASICELECTRONICS

DEMONSTRATION
SOLENOIDS/MOTORS/RELAYS

Objectives
Toshowsolenoids,motorsandrelays
running
Materials
Solenoid/Motor/Relay
PowerSupply

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BASICELECTRONICS

VOLTAGEDIVIDERSI
Simpleandvitalpartofelectronics.Usedthroughout
electronics.
Vitalintheconnectionofsensorstocomputers.
Takearesistorandconnectit
toapowersource.
Thevoltageononesideis5V,
andontheotheris0V
Whatwoulditbeinthemiddle
oftheresistor?

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BASICELECTRONICS

VOLTAGEDIVIDERSII
Cansetthisup:
Taketworesistorsof
equalvalueinseriesand
connectthemtoapower
source.
Wecanguessthatthe
voltageatpis2.5Vifra=rb.
Eachresistordoeshalf
thework.

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VOLTAGEDIVIDERSIII
Andtoextendthisfurther:
Whatiftheresistorsare
notthesame?
Wecanguessthatthe
voltageatpwillbegreater
than2.5Vifra<rb.Less
resistance=>lessvoltage
drop

BASICELECTRONICS

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VOLTAGEDIVIDERSIV
Nowwehavesomethinguseful
Whatifwesubstituteone
oftheresistorsfora
resistivesensorofsome
kind?
Wecanguessthatthe
voltageatpwillbe
dependentonthequality
sensed.

BASICELECTRONICS

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BASICELECTRONICS

VOLTAGEDIVIDERSV
VariableResistorscanworklikethistoo
Withthiscircuit,wecan
sensetherotational
positionofashaftora
linearposition
Thevoltageatpwillbe
dependentontheposition
ofthewiper.

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BASICELECTRONICS

DEMONSTRATIONVOLTAGE
DIVIDERS

Objectives
Tomirrortheforegoingvoltagedivider
discussionwithvoltagedividerexamples
Materials
Multimeter
SolderingIronandSolder
Resistors
ResistiveSensors(Bend/Light)

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BASICELECTRONICS

TRANSISTORSI
Developedtoswitchandamplify
Comeinalargenumberofdifferentvarieties,
shapesandsizes

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BASICELECTRONICS

TRANSISTORSII
MOSFETsaretransistorsthatmakeverygood
switches
Averysmallsignalonthegate
canswitchverylargeloadson
andoffthousandsoftimesa
second.

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BASICELECTRONICS

DEMONSTRATIONTRANSISTORS
Objectives
Toshowtheoperationofatransistor
Materials
Multimeter
SolderingIronandSolder
Motor/Halogen
BigMOSFET
MOSFETdatasheet

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BASICELECTRONICS

BINARY
Thegatewaytodigitalelectronics

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BASICELECTRONICS

THEDECIMALNUMBERSYSTEM
Attheriskofstatingtheobvious
Wecountbygoingthroughourlistofnumbersymbols
untilwerunout
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,
Whenwerunout,wemarkthatfactwithadigitin
anothercolumnandstartagain
8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,
Whenwerunoutagain,weuseanothercolumn
98,99,100,101,102,103,

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BASICELECTRONICS

THEBINARYNUMBERSYSTEM
Binaryisidentical,exceptweonlyhave0and1
Wecountbygoingthroughourlistofnumbersymbols
untilwerunout
0,1,
Whenwerunout,wemarkthatfactwithadigitin
anothercolumnandstartagain
0,1,10,
Whenwerunoutagain,weuseanothercolumn
10,11,100,101,110,111,

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BASICELECTRONICS

JUSTLIKEAREALNUMBERING
SYSTEM

Youcanconverttodecimal,sinceyouknowhowbig
eachcolumnis32,16,8,4,2,1
11002=1x8+1x4+0x2+0x1=1210
Youcanaddandsubtractbinarynumbers(andallother
arithmeticaloperations)
0010
1000
+ 01100110
1000
0010
Eachcolumniscalledabit.Eightbitsarecalleda
byte.

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BASICELECTRONICS

THEBIGSTEP
Sowhatssocoolaboutanumberingsystem
thatonlyhas2digits?
Eachdigitcanbeunambiguouslyrepresented
byavoltageonawire.
Andyoucandowhateveryouwantwithit.

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BASICELECTRONICS

83
Whatis8310or010100112?

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BASICELECTRONICS

MATERIALS

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BASICELECTRONICS

Materials
PowerSupply
1.5VCell
Wire
Solder
SolderingIron
LEDs
Resistors(1K&500)
Potentiometer
Diodes(highishcurrent)
BendSensor

Photocell
Bendsensor
MOSFET&Datasheet
Motors
Halogens