• An electronic component is a basic electronic

element usually packaged in a discrete form with two

or more connecting leads or metallic pads.
Components are intended to be connected together,
usually by soldering to a printed circuit board, to
create an electronic circuit with a particular function
(for example an amplifier, radio receiver, or
oscillator). Components may be packaged singly
(resistor, capacitor, transistor, diode etc.) or in more
or less complex groups as integrated circuits
(operational amplifier, resistor array, logic gate etc.)
• Very often electronic components are mechanically
stabilized, improved in insulation properties and
protected from environmental influence by being
enclosed in synthetic resin

• Components may be Passive or Active:

• * Passive components are those that do not have gain

or directionality. [1] In the Electrical industry they are
called Electrical elements or electrical components
• * Active components are those that have gain or
directionality, in contrast to passive components, which
have neither. They include Semiconductors (Solid State
Devices) and Thermionic Valves (Vacuum Tubes)
• Devices to make electrical connection
• Terminal
• Connector
• Socket
• Screw terminal, Terminal Blocks
• Header
• Closed
• Cables with connectors or
terminals at their ends

• * Power cord
• * Patch cord
• * Test lead
• Components that may be made to either conduct (closed) or
not (open)

• * Switch - manually operated switch

• * Keypad - small array of pushbutton switches
• * Relay - Electrically operated switch. This is a mechanical
component, unlike the Solid State Relay
• * Reed switch - Magnetically activated switch
• * Thermostat - Thermally activated switch
• * Circuit Breaker - Over-current activated switch
• * Limit Switch - Mechanically activated switch
• * Mercury switch
• * Centrifugal switch
• Components used to resist current.

• 1. See the Transducer section below for resistors used to sense

environmental conditions (Thermistor, Photoresistor, RTD...)
• 2. See the Protection section below for resistors used for
current or voltage limiting (MOV, Inrush Limiters...)

• * Resistor - fixed value

• * Resistor network - array of resistors in one package
• * Trimmer - Small variable resistor
• * Potentiometer, Rheostat - variable resistor
• * Heater - heating element
• * Resistance wire - wire of high-resistance material, similar to
heating element
• * Thermistor - temperature-varied resistor
• Passive components that protect circuits from excessive currents of
voltages
• While these components technically belong to the Wire, Resistor and
Vacuum classes, they are grouped here based on their use.
• Active components that perform a protection function are in the
Semiconductor class, below.
• Fuse - Over-current protection, one time use
• Resettable fuse (PolySwitch, self-resetting fuse)- Over-current
protection, resettable
• Metal Oxide Varistor, Surge Absorber (MOV) - Over-voltage
protection. These are passive components, unlike the TVS
• Inrush current limiter - protection against initial Inrush current
• Gas Discharge Tube - protection against high voltage surges
• Circuit Breaker - Over-current activated switch
• Spark gap - two electrodes with a gap in between to create arcing
• Filament lamp
• GFCI or RCD
• Components that store electrical charge in an
electrical field. Capacitors are used for filtration
in the electronic circuits. Capacitors in general
pass changing (e.g. AC) and block unchanging
(e.g. DC) voltage levels.
• Capacitor - fixed capacitance
• Capacitor network (array)
• Variable capacitor - change the capacitance
• Varicap diode - variable capacitor come diode
• Electrical components that use magnetism
• Inductor, coil, choke
• Variable inductor
• Saturable Inductor
• Transformer
• Magnetic amplifier (toroid)
• Ferrite impedances, beads
• Motor
• Solenoid
• Speaker
 • Piezoelectric devices,
crystals, resonators
• Networks •
•
Passive components that use piezoelectric effect
Components that use the effect to generate or

• Components that use

filter high frequencies
– Crystal - Is a fudge crystal used to generate
more than one type of precise frequencies (See the Modules class
below for complete oscillators)
passive component – Ceramic resonator - Is a ceramic crystal used to
generate semi-precise frequencies

• RC network - forms an – Ceramic filter - Is a ceramic crystal used to filter

a band of frequencies such as in radio receivers

RC circuit, used in •
– Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) filters
Components that use the effect as mechanical
Snubbers Transducers.
– Ultrasonic motor - Electric motor that uses the
piezoelectric effect
• LC Network - forms an – For piezo buzzers and microphones, see the
Transducer class below
LC circuit, used in
tuneable transformers
and RFI filters
• Sources of electrical power
• Battery - acid- or alkali-based power supply
• Fuel cell - an electrochemical generator
• Power supply - usually a mains hook-up
• Photovoltaic device - generates electricity from
light
• Generator - an electromechanical power source
• Transducers generate physical effects when driven by an
electrical signal, or vice-versa.
• Sensors (detectors) are transducers that react to
environmental conditions by changing their electrical
properties or generating an electrical signal.
• The Transducers listed here are single electronic
components (as opposed to complete assemblies), and are
passive (see Semiconductors and Tubes for active ones).
Only the most common ones are listed here.
• Audio (see also Piezoelectric devices)
– Microphone - Magnetic, electrostatic (capacitive), piezoelectric and
others. Convert audio to electrical signal
– Loudspeaker - Magnetic or piezoelectric device to generate full audio
– Buzzer - Magnetic or piezoelectric sounder to generate tones
• Position, motion
• Linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) - Magnetic - detects linear position
• Rotary encoder, Shaft Encoder - Optical, magnetic, resistive or switches - detects
absolute or relative angle or rotational speed
• Inclinometer - Capacitive - detects angle with respect to gravity
• Motion sensor, Vibration sensor
• Flowmeter - detects flow in liquid or gas
• Force, torque
• Strain gauge - Piezoelectric or resistive - detects squeezing, stretching, twisting
• Accelerometer - Piezoelectric - detects acceleration, gravity
• Thermal
• Thermocouple, thermopile - Wires that generate a voltage proportional to delta
temperature
• Thermistor - Resistor whose resistance changes with temperature, up PTC or down
NTC
• Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD) - Wire whose resistance changes with
temperature
• Bolometer
• Thermal cutoff - Switch that is opened or closed when a set temperature is
exceeded
• Magnetic field (see also Hall Effect in semiconductors)
• Magnetometer, Gaussmeter
• Humidity
• Hygrometer
• Electromagnetic, light
• Photoresistor - Light dependent resistor (LDR)
• Multiple electronic components assembled in a
device that is in itself used as a component
• Oscillator
• Display devices
– Liquid crystal display (LCD)
• Filter
• Antennas
– Elemental dipole
– Biconical
– Yagi
– Phased array
– Magnetic dipole (loop)
– Parabolic dish
– Feedhorn, Waveguide
• Wire-wrap
• Breadboard

• Enclosure
• Heat sink
• Heatsink paste & pads
• Fan
Carbon amplifier (see
Carbon microphones used as amplifiers
)
• Carbon arc (negative resistance
device)
• Dynamo (historic rf generator)