Electronics
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Electronics is the study and use of electrical devices that operate by controlling the flow of electrons or other electrically charged particles in devices such as thermionic valves and semiconductors. The pure study of such devices is considered as a branch of physics, while the design and construction of electronic circuits to solve practical problems is part of the fields of electrical, electronics and computer engineering.
The main uses of electronic circuits are the controlling, processing and distribution of information, and the conversion and distribution of electromagnetic power. Both of these uses involve the creation or detection of electromagnetic fields and electric currents.
While electricity had been used for some time to transmit data over telegraphs and telephones, the development of electronics truly began in earnest with the advent of radio. Today, electronic devices perform a much wider variety of tasks.
One way of looking at an electronic system is to divide it into the following parts:
- Inputs - Electrical or mechanical sensors (or transducers), which take signals (in the form of temperature, pressure, etc.) from the physical world and convert them into current/voltage signals.
- Signal processing circuits - These consist of electronic components connected together to manipulate, interpret and transform the signals.
- Outputs - Actuators or other devices (also transducers) that transform current/voltage signals back into useful physical form.
See also:
- Electrical engineering: Integrated circuit, Optoelectronics, Point-to-point construction, Printed circuit board, Semiconductor, Semiconductor device, transducer, Wire wrap
- Computer engineering: Microelectronics
- Lists: List of electronics topics
Electronic Test Equipment
- Ammeter, e.g. Galvanometer (Measure current)
- Ohmmeter, e.g. Wheatstone bridge (Measure resistance)
- Voltmeter (Measures voltage)
- Multimeter (Measures all of the above)
- Logic analyzer (Tests digital circuits)
- Oscilloscope (Measures all of the above as they change over time)
- Electrometer (Measures charge)
- Frequency counter (Measures frequency)
Interconnecting Electronic Components
- electrical connectors, plugs and sockets etc.
- printed circuit boards
- integrated circuit
- point-to-point construction
- wire-wrap
- breadboard
Passive Components
- resistor
- capacitor
- inductor
- transformer
- piezoelectric crystal
- magnetic amplifier (toroid)
- fuse
Active Components (solid-state)
- diode
- transistor
- integrated circuit
- other active components
Active Components (thermionic)
Display Devices
Electromechanical Sensors and Actuators
Thermoelectric devices
- thermistor
- thermocouple
- thermopile
- Peltier cooler
Photoelectric devices
- light-dependent resistor
- photodiode
- photovoltaic cell (solar cell)
Antennae etc.
Analog circuits
Most analog electronic appliances, such as radio receivers, are constructed from arrays of a few types of circuits.
- Analog computer
- Analog multipliers
- electronic amplifiers
- electronic filters
- electronic oscillators
- electronic mixers
- electronic power supply
- impedance matchers
- operational amplifiers
Digital circuits
Computers, electronic clockss, and programmable logic controllers (used to control industrial processes) are constructed of digital circuits. Digital Signal Processors are another example.
- logic gates
- flip-flops
- counters
- registers
- multiplexers
- microprocessors
- microcontrollers
- DSP
Mixed-signal circuits
Mixed-signal circuits, also known as hybrid circuits, are becoming increasingly common. Mixed circuits contain both analog and digital components. analog to digital converterss and digital to analog converterss are the primary examples. Other examples are transmission gates and buffers.
Noise
Associated with all electronic circuits is noise. Types of noise include
- Shot noise in resistors.
- Thermal noise in resistors.
- White noise
- 1/f noise (pink noise, or flicker noise)
Electronics Theory
- Mathematical Methods of Electronics
- Digital Electronics
- Analog Electronics
See also
External links
Tutorials and Projects
- Electronics tutorials.com
- Williamson Labs' Electronics tutorial
- Ian Purdie's Electronics tutorials
- Iguana Labs' Electronics Tutorials and Kits
- Electronic Meanings and Acronyms
Some other good sites