DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

ANGELES CITY SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL

Electronics 10
Handout 1-2

Name: __________________________________________________ Date: __________________

Section: __________________________________________ Teacher: ______________________

ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC

There are various basic electrical and electronic components which are commonly found in different
circuits of peripherals. In many circuits, these components are used to build the circuit, which are classified
into two categories such as active components and passive components. . Active components are nothing but
the components that supply and control energy. Passive components can be defined as the components
that respond to the flow of electrical energy and can dissipates or store energy. These components can be
found in numerous peripherals like hard disks, mother boards, etc. Many circuits are designed with various
components like resistors, capacitors, inductors, transistors, transformers, switches, fuses, etc. Therefore, this
article gives a brief information about different types of electronic and electrical components that are used in
various electronic and electrical projects. The following paragraphs describe each & every component in detail
with diagrams.

Major Electrical and Electronic Components

The major electrical and electronic components used in electrical and electronic projects mainly
involves these components like resistors, capacitors, fuses, transistors, integrated circuits, relays, switches,
motors, circuit breakers etc.In many circuits, these components are used to build the circuit, which
are classified into two categories such as active components and passive components.

Active and Passive Components

Active components are nothing but, a component which supplies and controls energy.
Passive components can be defined as, a component which responds to the flow of electrical energy and
either dissipates or store energy.

Resistor

A resistor is an electrical component that restricts the flow of current in the

circuit. Resistor can also be used to afford a specific voltage to a transistor.
When current flows through the resistor, the resistor absorbs the electrical
energy and degenerates it in the form of heat. Resistors may have variable
or fixed resistances, which can be found in thermistors, photo resistors,
trimmers, Varistors, potentiometers and hamsters. The current flow through
a resistor is directly proportional to the voltage across the resistor terminals. The relationship is represented
by Ohm’s law. Ohm’s law states that dissipation due to the resistance and the units of resistance is Ohms.
Capacitor

A capacitor is a two terminal linear passive component which is made from two
conductive plates with an insulator between them. The main function of a capacitor
is that it stores electrical energy when an electric charge is forced onto its terminals
from a power source. It maintains the charge even after getting disconnected from
the power source. In a timing circuit, a capacitor is used with a resistor and also
can be used as a filter to allow the AC signals and block the DC signals.

Microcontroller

A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit that

assembles all the features that are found in the microprocessor. In order to
serve different applications, it has a high concentration of on chip amenities such
as RAM, ROM, timers I/O ports, serial port, interrupt and clock circuit. These are
used in various automatically controlled devices such as remote controls,
medical devices, automobile engine control systems, power tools, toys, office
machines, and other embedded systems.

Inductor

An inductor or coil or a reactor is a two-terminal passive electrical

component. The main function of an inductor is that it stores electrical
energy in the form of magnetic energy. Generally, an inductor
comprises a conductor, commonly wound into a coil, that works on
the principle of Faraday’s law of inductance. When a current flows
through the coil from the left side to the right side – the coil produces
a magnetic field in the clockwise direction. The inductance of the
inductor is denoted by ‘L’.

Transformer

A transformer is an electrical device which consists of two coils of wire, that are
linked by an iron core. It offers the much needed capability of changing the
current and voltage levels easily. The main function of the transformer is that to
increase (step-up) or decrease(step-down) AC voltages. The transformer works
on the principle of Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction, that is, mutual
inductance between two circuits, that is linked by a common magnetic flux.
Transformer converts an electrical energy from one circuit to another circuit with
the help of mutual induction between the two windings without electrical
connection between them, and also converts power from one circuit to another
circuit without changing the frequency but with a different voltage level. In a step
up transformer, secondary coil contains more winding than the primary coil. Coming to a step-down
transformer, it has more windings in the primary coil than the secondary coil. These are one of the main
reasons we use AC current in our homes and not DC. DC voltages cannot be changed using transformers.
Transformers are available in many sizes in the market today, ranging from small ones to a large one.
Battery

A battery is an electrical device which is used to convert chemical energy into

electrical energy through electrochemical discharge reactions. It is composed
of one or more cells wherein each cell has an anode (+), the cathode (-) and
the electrolyte. The anode and the cathode are kept up to an electrical circuit.
Batteries are classified into two types; they are primary or disposable batteries
and secondary or rechargeable batteries, wherein the primary batteries are not
rechargeable while the secondary batteries are rechargeable.

Fuse

A fuse is a material or a piece of wire which is used to protect the components

from destruction due to excessive current flowing through them. When an
excessive current flows through the circuit, the wires get heated up and get
damaged. As a result, the current stops flowing. When the fuse melts due to
overflow of current then, the element of the fuse absorbs some energy. The
absorbed energy is given by I2t. Every type of fuse is designed for an accurate
amount of current. A standard fuse comprises main components such as a set
of contacts, metal-fuse element, connection and support body. A fuse element
is made of Zinc, copper, silver, aluminum or alloys to afford predictable
characteristics. That may be enclosed by air or material.

Diode/LED (Light Emitting Diode)

A diode is a device, which is made from semiconductor material

that allows current to flow in one direction; it blocks the current
which tries to go against the flow in a wire. These devices are
often used in many electronic circuits that convert AC to DC. A
LED is the alternative of the diode, When a current is applied to a
LED, it emits light at a particular frequency. LEDs are used in
numerous applications like keyboards, hard disks, TV remote
controls, and these devices are very useful as status indicators in
computers as well as battery-operated electronics Transistors.

Transistors

The Transistor is an electronic device, which consists of three terminals,

made of semiconductor material which controls the flow of voltage or current
and acts as a switch for electronic signals. There are two types of transistors
PNP and NPN, most circuits tend to use NPN transistor. Transistors are
designed in different shapes and the three terminals of the transistor
namely, base (B), emitter (E) and collector(C). Where, base terminal is
responsible for activating the transistor, emitter terminal is the negative lead
and collector terminal is the positive lead.
Integrated Circuit

The short form of an integrated circuit is IC and sometimes it is also called

as microchip. The Integrated circuit is a semiconductor device, where
loads of resistors, capacitors, and transistors are fabricated. It can
function as an oscillator, microprocessor, amplifier, and timer. An IC is
categorized as either linear or nonlinear depending on its application.
Linear ICs or analog integrated circuits have continuously variable O/P
and that depends on the level of i/p signal. These linear ICs are used as
audio frequency and radio frequency amplifiers. Digital ICs operate at
only a few defined states, rather than over a continuous range of signal
amplitudes. The applications of integrated circuits include computers,
modems, computer networks and frequency counters. The basic
structure of digital integrated circuits is logic gates, which work with binary
data.

Relays

Relays are electromechanical switches that are used to control the circuits by
using a low power signal. The relays comprise of an electromagnet, an
armature, a series of electrical contacts and a spring. First relays were used as
amplifiers in long distance telegraph circuits. There is no electrical connection
between the two circuits in the relay because they are connected through
magnetic connection. Relays are used to perform logical operations in
telephone exchanges and computers etc.

Switches

A switch is an electrical device which is used to break the circuit,

interrupting the current and to supply the current from one conductor
to another conductor. The switch works with ON and OFF
mechanism. Switches are classified into four types such as (SPST)
single pole single throw, (SPDT) single pole double throw, (DPST)
double pole single throw and (DPDT) double pole double throw.

Motors

A motor is an electrical device and the main function of the motor is to convert
electrical energy into mechanical energy. The motor contains rotor, stator,
bearings, conduit box, enclosure and eye bolt. Electric motors are everywhere,
from common machines to the most complex computers. These motors are
competent for the tasks which they perform when compared to pneumatic or
hydraulic alternatives. Motors are categorized into different types such as, AC
inductance motors, DC motors, stepper motor, brushless permanent magnet
synchronous motor, brushed DC motor, and switched reluctance motor.
Circuit Breakers

A circuit breaker is a mechanical switching device which is

operated automatically and is used to protect the electrical circuit
from the damage caused by overload or short circuit. The main
function of the circuit breaker is to interrupt current flow and to
identify a fault condition. It comprises two contacts such as fixed
and moving contact. Moving contact is used to break and
make the circuit using stored energies in the form of spring or
compressed air. Fixed contact includes a spring that holds the
moving contact after closing. These devices consist of two coils,
closing and tripping coil. Where closing coil is used to close the
circuit and tripping coil is used to trip the circuit.