basic electrical components manoj

8/3/2019 Basic Electrical Components Manoj

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Basic Electrical Components

There are several important basic electrical components that are commonly found in the

circuits of virtually all PC parts and peripherals. These devices are the fundamental building blocks of electrical and electronic circuits, and can be found in great numbers on

motherboards, hard disk logic boards, video cards and just about everywhere else in thePC, including places that might surprise you. They can be used and combined with each

other and dozens of other devices, in so many different ways that I could not even beginto describe them all. Still, it is useful to know a bit about how they work, and this page

will at least provide you with a basis for recognizing some of what you see on those

boards, and perhaps understanding the fundamentals of circuit schematics. Bear in mindwhen reading the descriptions below that it would really take several full pages to fully

describe the workings of most of these components! Fortunately, this level of detail isn't

really necessary to provide the background necessary when working with PCs.

For each component, I provide a sample photo, as well as an illustration of the

component's symbol in an electrical schematic (diagram showing how a circuit isdesigned). There are many variants of each of the components shown below; so the

diagrams should only be considered examples.

• Battery: A direct current electricity source of a specific voltage, used primarily insmall circuits.

A battery (in this case, a button cell on a PC motherboard.)

Original photo © Kamco Services

Image used with permission.

• Resistor: As you could probably guess from the name, a resistor increases the

resistance of a circuit. The main purpose of this is to reduce the flow of electricity

in a circuit. Resistors come in all different shapes and sizes. They dissipate heat as

a result of their opposing electricity, and are therefore rated both in terms of their resistance (how much they oppose the flow of electrons) and their power capacity

(how much power they can dissipate before becoming damaged.) Generally, bigger resistors can handle more power. There are also variable resistors, which

can have their resistance adjusted by turning a knob or other device. These are

sometimes called potentiometers.



Magnified surface-mount resistor from a motherboard.

These small resistors are now much more common on PC

electronics than the older, larger pin type. Note the "R10" designation.

• Capacitor: A capacitor is a component made from two (or two sets of)

conductive plates with an insulator between them. The insulator prevents the

plates from touching. When a DC current is applied across a capacitor, positivecharge builds on one plate (or set of plates) and negative charge builds on the

other. The charge will remain until the capacitor is discharged. When an AC

current is applied across the capacitor, it will charge one set of plates positive andthe other negative during the part of the cycle when the voltage is positive; when

the voltage goes negative in the second half of the cycle, the capacitor will release

what it previously charged, and then charge the opposite way. This then repeatsfor each cycle. Since it has the opposite charge stored in it each time the voltage

changes, it tends to oppose the change in voltage. As you can tell then, if you

apply a mixed DC and AC signal across a capacitor, the capacitor will tend to block the DC and let the AC flow through. The strength of a capacitor is called

capacitance and is measured in farads (F). (In practical terms, usually

microfarads and the like, since one farad would be a very large capacitor!) Theyare used in all sorts of electronic circuits, especially combined with resistors and

inductors, and are commonly found in PCs.



Three capacitors on a motherboard.

The two large capacitors in the background are 1500 microfarads

and 2200 microfarads respectively, as you can clearly see fromtheir labeling. The small silver-colored capacitor in the foreground is

a 22 microfarad electrolytic capactor. Electrolytics are commonly used in

computers because they pack a relatively high capacitance into a small package. The plus sign indicates the polarity of the capacitor, which also has itsleads marked with "+" and "-". If you look closely you can see the "+" marking

on the motherboard, just to the left of the capacitor. Note that very small

capacitors are also found in surface-mount packages just like the resistor above.

• Inductor: An inductor is essentially a coil of wire. When current flows through

an inductor, a magnetic field is created, and the inductor will store this magnetic

energy until it is released. In some ways, an inductor is the opposite of acapacitor. While a capacitor stores voltage as electrical energy, an inductor stores

current as magnetic energy. Thus, a capacitor opposes a change in the voltage of a

circuit, while an inductor opposes a change in its current. Therefore, capacitors

block DC current and let AC current pass, while inductors do the opposite. Thestrength of an inductor is called--take a wild guess--its inductance, and is

measured in henrys (H). Inductors can have a core of air in the middle of their

coils, or a ferrous (iron) core. Being a magnetic material, the iron core increasesthe inductance value, which is also affected by the material used in the wire, and

the number of turns in the coil. Some inductor cores are straight in shape, and

others are closed circles called toroids. The latter type of inductor is highlyefficient because the closed shape is conducive to creating a stronger magnetic

field. Inductors are used in all sorts of electronic circuits, particularly in

combination with resistors and capacitors, and are commonly found in PCs.

A toroidal core inductor from a PC motherboard.

The two bars in the symbol represent the iron core;an air-core inductor would not have the bars.

Note that very small inductors are also found in

surface-mount packages just like the resistor above.



• Transformer: A transformer is an inductor, usually with an iron core, that has

two lengths of wire wrapped around it instead of one. The two coils of wire do not

electrically connect, and are normally attached to different circuits. One of themost important components in the world of power, it is used to change one AC

voltage into another. As described above, when a coil has a current passed

through it, a magnetic field is set up proportional to the number of turns in thecoil. This principle also works in reverse: if you create a magnetic field in a coil, a

current will be induced in it, proportional to the number of turns of the coil. Thus,

if you create a transformer with say, 100 turns in the first or primary coil, and 50turns in the second or secondary coil, and you apply 240 VAC to the first coil, a

current of 120 VAC will be induced in the second coil (approximately; some

energy is always lost during the transformation). A transformer with more turns in

its primary than its secondary coil will reduce voltage and is called a step-down

transformer. One with more turns in the secondary than the primary is called a

step-up transformer. Transformers are one of the main reasons we use AC

electricity in our homes and not DC: DC voltages cannot be changed using

transformers. They come in sizes ranging from small ones an inch across, to largeones that weigh hundreds of pounds or more, depending on the voltage and

current they must handle.

A transformer from the interior of a PC power supply. Note the large heat sink fins above and below it.

• Diode / LED: A diode is a device, typically made from semiconductor material,

that restricts the flow of current in a circuit to only one direction; it will block the

bulk of any current that tries to go "against the flow" in a wire. Diodes have amultitude of uses. For example, they are often used in circuits that convert

alternating current to direct current, since they can block half the alternating

current from passing through. A variant of the common diode is the light-emitting

diode or LED; these are the most well-known and commonly-encountered kind of diode, since they are used on everything from keyboards to hard disks to

television remote controls. An LED is a diode that is designed to emit light of a particular frequency when current is applied to it. They are very useful as status

indicators in computers and battery-operated electronics; they can be left on for

hours or days at a time because they run on DC, require little power to operate,

generate very little heat and last for many years even if run continuously. Theyare now even being made into low-powered, long-operating flashlights.

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/power/ext/basics_ACDC.htm






A diode (top) and a light-emitting diode (bottom). Note the

symbol on the circuit board above the diode, and the "CR3"designation. The LED shown is an older, large diode from a

system case. LEDs are now more often round and usually smaller.

• Fuse: A fuse is a device designed to protect other components from accidental

damage due to excessive current flowing through them. Each type of fuse is

designed for a specific amount of current. As long as the current in the circuit iskept below this value, the fuse passes the current with little opposition. If the

current rises above the rating of the fuse--due to a malfunction of some sort or an

accidental short-circuit--the fuse will "blow" and disconnect the circuit. Fuses arethe "heroes" of the electronics world, literally burning up or melting from the high

current, causing a physical gap in the circuit and saving other devices from the

high current. They can then be replaced when the problem condition has beencorrected. All fuses are rated in amps for the amount of current they can tolerate

before blowing; they are also rated for the maximum voltage they can tolerate. Always replace a blown fuse only with another of the same current and voltage

rating .

basic electrical components manoj

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