Link to this headingComponents
Brandon’s Semiconductor Simulator
Voltage: difference in electronic charge between two points
Amperage: rate at which electrons flow past a point in a circuit.
Resistance: amount a component resists the flow of electrical energy
Inductance: the momentum of the circuit. How fast Voltage can change
Impedance:
Link to this headingResistor
- Reduces voltage
Link to this headingTransistors
- Electronic switch
- If voltage applied to the base then flow can go through the resistor
How they work
- If voltage applied to the base then flow can go through the resistor
Link to this headingInductor
In AC Current:
- Stores charge in Magnetic Field
- Resists changes in current. Helps regulate voltage and filter noise in circuits.
- Rounds the edges of squarewave current.
In DC Current:
- Resists Changes in Voltage from off to on
- This is because the energy gets put into a magnetic field
Link to this headingCapacitor
- Store energy in form of static charge
- Resist changes in voltage
- Larger caps (100uF) store more energy but react slower to changes
- Smaller caps (0.1uF) sore less energy but are fast to react to changes
Electrolytic Capacitors: Are polarized and have a positive and a negative pin. These are the big Cylinder Components. Can be almost any Capacitance.
Ceramic Capacitors: Are non-polarized and can be plugged in on any terminal. But have small amount of Capacitance.
Film Capacitors:
Link to this headingDecoupling capacitor
- Reduce Noise from another part of the circuit.
- On Voltage Spikes
- On High Current Demand
- A UPS for the power supply
- Choose a Capacitor that is rated 20% higher than the voltage that will go though the wire.
- Capacitor is placed from Main Voltage to ground
Link to this headingCharge Pump
- Uses Capacitors to raise or lower voltage to be used in a circuit
- But it reduces the Amperage that can be pushed through
Link to this headingRelay
- Electronic Switch
- Is on when powered.
- Is off when not.
Link to this headingLatching Relay
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Electronic Switch
-
When first receives power changes state to on
-
When power is removed is still on.
-
When reset pin is powered then reset back to off.
Link to this headingTransformer
- Takes AC power and steps down voltage or step up.
- Creates a EM field around the Iron block due to the changes in Alternating Current
Depending on the number of turns of the wire on the input and output connection it will step up or down the voltage.
\dfrac{\texttt{Voltage\_2}}{\texttt{Voltage\_1}} = \dfrac{\texttt{Turns\_2}}{\texttt{Turns\_1}}
Step-down Transformer Example:
- Primary coil has 1,200 turns and is connected to 240V AC.
- Secondary coil has 10 turns and outputs to 2V AC.
Step-up Transformer Example:
- Primary coil has 1,000 turns and is connected to 200V AC.
- Secondary coil has 10,000 turns and outputs to 2,000V AC.
Link to this headingVoltage Regulator
- Varies its resistance, continuously adjusting a voltage divider network to maintain a constant output voltage
Link to this headingVoltage Regulator Module (VRM)
- Keeps the Voltage static preventing overvolting from a wall converter.
- Uses MOSFETS as the switches
- Since this circut’s voltage is a small saw tooth with the median being the expected voltage there are some fluctuations
- By adding more of these VRMs in parallel they even out the discrepancies making the voltage more stable
Circuit Diagram:
12 V Input Inductor
/ _____
-----------/ -+-| |---OOOOOOOO--| |--| CPU |--+---
| Capacitor +-----+ |
| |
| Diode |
| +---<|----+ |
| | | |
| | \ | |
+----------------+-- \-+------+
Link to this headingDC linear voltage regulator
Link to this headinglow-dropout regulator (LDO regulator)
Can be used if the input voltage is close to the output voltage. It needs to be close because it will disapate as heat for the extra voltage.
Link to this headingDiode
- Makes sure current can only flow in one direction.
- Blocks current flowing in the other direction.
- Anode is the Arrow part on the Schematic and plugged in to the positive terminal
Link to this headingLight Emitting Diode (LED)
- Most LEDs have 20mA max Current
- Must use a resistor to prevent Overvoltage.
- Resistor can be before or after the LED
Link to this headingPositive Temperature coefficient (PTC)
- Is also called a thermistor
- Will increase resistance as current flows through it
- Acts as a resettable fuse
- If there is a short in the circuit then there will be more current which increases the resistance which prevents the circuit from working.
- Great when accidentally plugging the leads in wrong.
Link to this headingResonators and Oscillators
- Used as a timing mechanism
- Resonators are lower frequencies then oscillators
Projects that use RF and Serial Communication will need a better timing mechanism than the internal oscillator
Link to this headingInternal Oscillator
- The least precise but is embedded in the chip
Link to this headingExternal Oscillator
- Most expensive but is has the best precision and tolerance
Link to this headingCrystal Resonator
- Uses mechanical resonance of a vibrating piezoelectric crystal to create an electrical signal with a precise frequency.
- Inexpensive compared to oscillator
- Works within 8 to 150 MHz but cant be changed after manufacturing
Link to this headingCeramic Resonator
- Cheaper than crystals but less precise
- Are 10 times more accurate than the internal oscillator
Link to this headingMOSFETs
- Used to switch DC Circuits
Link to this headingTriac
- Used to switch AC Circuits
Link to this headingHall effect sensor
- Created voltage when it is in a magnetic field.
- This is different from a inductor because it can detect a static and changing magnetic field.
Link to this headingBuck converters
Used to step down DC Voltage.
Ex. Can be used to convert 12VDC -> 5VDC
Link to this headingFerrite Bead
- A piecce of magnet that can be used to suppress high frequency signals at their designed frequency