Basic Electronics part 1
Lecture 3 of Digital Electronics Course
In this section I will teach you the theoretical part of electronics.
Conductors
A conductor is anything that allows electricity to pass through it. It provides the medium needed for the flow of electrons.
Insulators
An insulator is the opposite. It doesn’t allow electricity to pass through it. It serves as way a of stopping flow of electricity. In electronics they are widely used for casing and covering.
Voltage or Potential Difference
SI Unit : Volts (V)
Symbol : V
It is the measure of the difference in electric potential between 2 points. It serves as the driving force of electrons, causing them to move from one point to another.
\[Voltage = \frac{Work}{Charge}\]Where Work refers to the total work done to move the charges and Charge refers to the total charge moved.
In symbols
> \(V = \frac{W}{Q}\)
1 Volt is the electric potential needed to do 1 Joule of work by moving 1 Coulomb of charge through the entire circuit.
Current
SI Unit : Amperes (A)
Symbol : I
It is the rate of flow of charge per unit time.
\[Current = \frac{Charge}{time}\]Where Charge refers to the total charged moved and time refers to the time during which the charge was moving.
In symbols
> \(I = \frac{Q}{t}\)
1 Ampere is when 1 Coulomb of charge is moved around the entire circuit in 1 Second.
Resistance
SI Unit : Ohms (Ω)
Symbol : R
It is the ability of a material to resist the flow of electric current through it. It is a property possessed by all materials.
\[Resistance = \frac{Voltage}{Current}\]Where Voltage refers to the potential difference being applied across the material and Current refers to the current in the material.
In symbols
> \(R = \frac{V}{I}\)
1 Ohms is the resistance which limits the current to 1 Ampere when 1 Volt of electric potential is applied.
Power
SI Unit : Watt (W)
Symbol : P
It is the rate of work done per unit time.
\[Power = \frac{Work}{time}\]Where Work is the work done and time is the time during which the work was done.
In symbols
> \(P = \frac{W}{t}\)
This equation is also used to derive the equation: \(Power = Current \times Voltage\)
Where Current is the current present in the material and Voltage is the potential difference across the material.
In symbols
> \(P = IV\)
Anode
It is the positive terminal of an electric component.
Cathode
It is the negative terminal of an electric component.