LESSON 6  

-  CIRCUIT DIAGRAMS

The different types of components we have encountered each have a symbol to represent
them in a circuit diagram. A circuit diagram is just a picture of how all the components in
a circuit are connected together.

Here are the symbols for the components we have met:

wire

join

resistor

preset - the arrow represents the wiper

non-electrolytic capacitor

electrolytic capacitor - the black line represents the negative plate

LED - the arrow shows the direction that conventional current can flow
(electrons actually flow in the opposite direction!)

transistor - the arrow shows the direction that conventional current flows

piezo speaker (there is no standard symbol for a piezo)

battery

Here is a complete circuit diagram. Don't worry about what the circuit does (it just lights up
the LED) but notice the fact that you can trace a continuous route from the battery through
the resistor and LED and back to the battery, i.e. it is a circuit.