Component Identification &

Schematic Symbols
Electronics 1
CVHS

Basic Elements of a Circuit

Three Essential Elements
Load
Complete Path
Power Source

Additional Elements
Control Device
Protective Device

What is a Schematic
A schematic is a drawing that uses symbols to represent a
complete electronic circuit. Schematics are necessary when
building and troubleshooting circuits to easily understand the
electrical path between components.

Schematic Showing
Complete Circuit

Resistors
Provide resistance to electrical energy (voltage drop)
Labeled with a resistor color code (displays resistance
value in ohms & tolerance %)
Physical size determines power (Wattage) value
Schematic symbol:

Capacitors
Store & quickly discharge electrical energy
Labeled with measure of capacitance
Unit of measure: farads (f)
Schematic symbol:

Diodes
Permit one-way flow of electricity
Made of semiconductor material
Schematic symbol:

Transistor
Acts as an electronic amplification device (Controls
large current with a small current)
Made of semiconductor material
PNP of NPN
Schematic Symbols:

Coils
Made of coiled wire wrapped around some type of
core material (plastic, metal, air)
Units of measure: henrys (h)
Schematic symbol:

Transformer
Made of two or more separate coils wrapped around
a core material
Change voltage/ amperage levels (step-up/ stepdown)
Schematic symbol:

SCR
Acts as electronic switching device
Once triggered it stays on until all power is
removed from the circuit
Made of semiconductor material
Schematic symbol:

Light Sensitive Components

Photo cell
Changes resistance
Light-dark
Schematic symbol:

Solar cell
Produces electricity from
light
Schematic Symbol:

Lamp
Neon

Incandescent

LED

Power Source
A power source is
anything used to
energize an electric
circuit.
Usually a power source
is either a battery or
some form of AC power
(wall outlet, generator,
etc.)

DC power source symbol

AC power source symbol

Ground
You can think of ground
as the negative side of
the circuit, or the
connection to the chassis
of a piece of electronic
equipment, but usually
ground refers to the
earth, as all household
receptacles should have
a proper earth ground

Chassis Ground symbol

Earth ground symbol

Review
1

4
7
5

2
6
3

Bonus

Factor Conversion
Throughout this course, you will work with numbers in many
different factors.
It is important that you understand how to convert these
numbers from one factor to another in order to have an answer
that makes sense
The most common factors used in electronics are:
Tera (T), Giga (G), Mega (M), Kilo (K),
milli (m), micro (), nano, (n), and pico (p)
Remember, in order to convert between factors, you just need to find
the number of steps away from the base unit and the direction of
decimal movement.

Factor Conversion
()

Practice, Convert the following:

23 pf
.52 M
374 Kh
.0008 TW

0.000,000,000,023 f
_________________
520,000,000,000
_________________
374,000,000 mh
_________________
800,000,000,000 mW
_________________

5.PNP transistor
8.NPN transistor
9. SPST switch
10.Common Ground.