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1. ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS These are small building block of the larger electronic framework called circuits.

Electronic components can be classified into active and passive types. Resistors, Capacitors, etc., are known as passive components because they can only attenuate the electrical signals but cannot amplify them. Whereas devices like transistors, operational amplifiers, etc. are called active components since they can also amplify or increase the amplitude and energy associated with the electrical signals.

1.1. PASSIVE COMPONENTS 1.1.1. RESISTORS Resistors are electronic components used for implementing resistance in electrical circuits. Resistance or ohmic resistance to be precise is property of a conductor by the virtue of which it opposes the flow current through it. This loss of flow of current or electrical energy inside the resistors is what causes the dissipation of heat in resistors. The unit of resistance is ohms. The symbol of resistance looks like this: Even though every conductor has a resistance associated with it, but of course not every conductor can be used as a resistance. You need a device which can fit nicely in your circuit and parameters like size, heat dissipated and cost remain under reasonable constraints too. Thus resistances are made of special materials like carbon film, metal film, ceramic, etc. Few commonly used types of resistors are mentioned below: Carbon film resistors: These are the most commonly used and cheapest of the resistors. Usually the tolerance of the resistance value is 5%. Power ratings of 1/8W, 1/4W and 1/2W are frequently used. The disadvantage of using carbon film resistors is that they tend to be electrically noisy.

Figure 1: A typical carbon film resistor (note that metal film resistors look similar)

Metal film resistors: Metal film resistors are used when a higher tolerance (more accurate value) is needed. Nichrome (Ni-Cr) is generally used for the material of resistor. They are much more accurate in value than carbon film resistors. They have about 0.05% tolerance.

Wire-wound resistors: A wire wound resistor is made of metal resistance wire, and because of this, they can be manufactured to precise values. Also, high-wattage resistors can be made by using a thick wire material. Although they can have high power ratings, but are not suitable for high frequency operation due to the presence of unwanted inductive impedances. This inductive impedance occurs because of the wire- wound nature of the resistor.

Semi-fixed resistors or variable resistors: Are used to compensate for the inaccuracies of the resistors, and to fine-tune a circuit. The rotation angle of the variable resistor can be from 300 degrees to several turns. These resistors are commonly referred to as "Potentiometers" or "Trimmer Potentiometers or presets.

Figure 2: A typical potentiometer

Figure 3: Internal structure of a potentiometer

Figure 4: Atypical looking preset

Light dependent resistors (LDRs): Some components can change resistance value by changes in the amount of light falling on them. One type is the Cadmium Sulfide Photocell. It is a kind of resistor whose value depends on the amount of light falling on it. When in darkness its resistance is very large, and as more and more light falls on it its resistance becomes lesser and lesser. LDRs are made of semiconductors showing photoconductivity. When light of a sufficiently high frequency falls on a photoconductive material it releases electrons (and holes are also created due to this) which increase the conductivity of the photoconductive material. Due to this reason a LDR has a high resistance in darkness and the value of resistance decreases with increase of light intensity.

Figure 5: A typical LDR

Thermistor: They are thermally sensitive resistor. The resistance value of the Thermistor changes according to temperature. They are thus used as temperature sensors. There are generally two types of thermistors With Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) The resistance of a NTC thermistor decreases on heating while that of a PTC thermistor increases.

Figure6: A typical disc shaped thermistor

Figure 6: Different types of thermistor

The relation between the temperature and the resistance value of the NTC type can be calculated using the following formula:

R resistance value at the temperature T resistance value at the reference temperature is a coefficient T temperature in Kelvin When current flows through R heat is produced (Joules heat). This heat, when in excess can damage the resistor. Hence there is a maximum power rating for resistors. The power rating indicates how much power the resistor can safely tolerate. The maximum rated power of the resistor is specified in Watts. Power is calculated using the square of the current ( ) x the resistance value (R) of the resistor. Resistors in electronic circuits are typically rated as 1/8W, 1/4W, and 1/2W. When powering a LED, for example, a comparatively large current flows through the resistor, so we need to consider the power rating of the resistor we choose.

1.1.2.1. RESISTANCE COLOR CODES: If you seen a simple carbon film resistor you would have noticed the colored lines on it. These lines are actually the color codes for telling the resistance value of a resistor. There are 4, 5and 6 band color codes available. The figure below is self explanatory:

Figure 7: Resistance color codes

Example: Resistance shown in figure Brown=1 first digit (tens position) Black=0 second digit (units position) Red=2 multiplier (as in ) The resistance is=>10 x = 1k ohm And Tolerance (Gold) = 5% 1.1.1. CAPACITOR Capacitor is an electronic device used for implementing capacitance in electrical circuits. Capacitance in turn is the property of a electronic system or device by the virtue of which it stores charge or simply said, the charge storing capacity of a capacitor. Unlike the general perception that capacitance is not confined just to capacitors as resistance is not confined just to resistors. Just as any conductor shows some resistance similarly any electrical system can show capacitance. In fact every electrical system has the natural properties of resistance, capacitance and inductance which are addressed under the common title of impedance. The unit of capacitance is Farads (F). Usually Even 1 farad is a very large value, thus typical circuits use capacitors in range of micro-farads, nano-farads and pico-farads. The capacitor symbols follow two conventions the US symbol type and European (UK) symbol type. is calculated as:

Figure 8: Various popular capacitor symbols

The symbols shown above are not strictly adhered to and one can find the so called US symbol type even in British texts and vice versa. The terms variable capacitors and electrolytic capacitors will become clearer as we proceed further.

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