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Introduction to Electronics Flashcards

1
Q

Explain static electricity

A
  • when two items are rubbed together, one is more likely to give off electrons
  • the transfer of electrons allows of item to be positively charged and the other negatively charged
    opposite charges attract
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2
Q

Why do insulators insulate and conductors conduct?

A

With insulators, electrons have very little freedom to move around, and therefore, little room to create their “electron domino effect” –> somewhat like marbles in a tub
- Not all insulators have the same resistance to the movement of electrons

Conductors allow room for electrons to move/allow for free electrons
- Not all conductors have the same level of conductivity
- Wires are made of conductive materials to transfer the flow of electrons

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3
Q

What are 4 examples of insulators and conductors?

A

Insulators:

  • rubber
  • glass
  • oil
  • cotton

Conductors (all metals)
- gold
- silver
- copper
- aluminum

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4
Q

What is a material called if it can or cannot conduct light?

A

Can: transparent
Can’t: opaque

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5
Q

What is the difference between static electricity and dynamic electricity?

A

Static electricity: an unmoving accumulation of electric charge

Dynamic: the flow of electrons causing an electric circuit/electricity

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6
Q

What is electrical continuity?

A

The presence of a complete path for current to flow
- there cannot be a gap in a wire as air is an insulator. So, if there is a gap between wires, electrons cannot be transferred.
- Electrons need a place to go. If they do not, they will pile up in the wire, and therefore, not flow

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7
Q

What are the 3 things wire gauge determines and its inverse relationship?

A

Determines…
1. the measurement of a wire’s diameter or cross-sectional area

  1. how much current can flow through the wire (Current capacity)
  2. the resistance of the wire and its weight per unit of length (Ohms per 1000ft, feet per pound)

Inverse relationship: the smaller the number of the wire gauge, the larger the actual wire

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8
Q

What is the largest and smallest possible size for a wire gauge?

A

Largest: 4
Smallest: 40

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9
Q

What is the difference between voltage and current?

A

Voltage: the difference in charge between two points. Also the force that causes electrons to flow

(Hand pushing marbles through tube)

Current: the rate at which current is flowing

(How fast the marnles are moving through the tube)

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10
Q

What do we use to measure, voltage current, and resistance?

A

Voltage: Volts (V)
Current: Amps (I)
Resistance: Ohms (R)

Ohm’s Law:
Triangle w. V at the top

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11
Q

What is the number of volts in a battery?

A
  • The electric potential the battery has.
  • It is stored, but it needs a place to go (hence, the electric circuit)
  • the potential energy wants to move from the higher voltage outlet to a lower voltage outlet (like air escaping a balloon)
  • The electrons move to the opposite side of the battery
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12
Q

What is important to remember when building circuits regarding the amount of current and the number of loads?

A

Too much current can cause things to burn out

Too many loads (things that load up the circuit and make it do work) can slow down the current flow

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13
Q

What is an LED?

A
  • Light-emitting diode
  • they convert electrical energy into light
  • they are more energy efficient, so they do not get hot as other light bulbs do
  • they only allow current to flow in one direction (as do diodes)
  • the positive, longer side is the anode
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14
Q

What is a good resistor value for most LEDs

A

330 ohms (orange-orange-brown)

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15
Q

If your resistor is getting heated, you need

A

A smaller resistor

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16
Q

What is LED wavelength?

A

A precise way of explaining the colour of the LED

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17
Q

What is LED brightness?

A

A measure of how bright an LED can get

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18
Q

What is the viewing angle of an LED?

A

Different styles of LEDs will incorporate lenses and reflectors to either concentrate most of the light in one space or spread it as widely as possible

Some LEDs pump light out into every direction, while others don’t

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19
Q

What are the different types of LEDs?

A

RGB LEDs
- red-green-blue LEDs
- you can control the strength of each colour to create any colour of the rainbow
- these LEDs have four pins: one for each colour and one common pin. Sometimes, the common pin is the anode, and other times, it is the cathode

Infrared LEDs
- emit light that we cannot see

Surface mount LEDs (tiny ones)
Through-hole LEDs

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20
Q

What is a node?

A

They look like dots when shown on a schematic
They represent the junction (connection) between two wires

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21
Q

What is the difference between a series and parallel circuit?

A

Series
- components share a common node
- there is only one path for current to flow
- each component will have the same amount of current but different voltages

Parallel
- at least 2 common nodes
- individual sections/multiple paths
- each component will have the same amount of voltage but different amount of current

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22
Q

When are current and voltage divided?

A

Voltage is divided for SERIES
Current is divided for PARALLEL

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23
Q

What is a diode?

A
  • an element of a circuit that allows current to flow in only one direction
  • they are polarized
  • hence, in a circuit with an LED, a diode must be placed correctly for the LED to turn on
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24
Q

What is arching?

A

The jumping of electrons to something else, which requires a lot of power

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25
What is the standard gauge of a wire?
18-22
26
Why is it important to have the right wire gauge?
- too thin a wire for many electrons can cause the wire to disintegrate - in a larger wire, there is more room for the electrons to flow, causing less resistance and friction
27
What is a coulomb?
The amount of amps travelling per second It is the unit of electric charge
28
What is the difference between electron flow and conventional flow?
Conventional flow says that electrons travel from the positive side to the negative side Truly, electrons travel from the negative side to the positive side
29
Why shouldn't you make a circuit with only a battery/no load?
If there is nothing to slow down the current, the current flow will be infinite, which will cause the battery to get really hot and start a fire
30
What is the difference between AC and DC?
AC: Current travels back and forth periodically (EX: the power from wall outlets) DC: Current travels in one direction (EX: batteries and solar panels)
31
What is forward voltage?
The minimum amount of voltage required to light up an LED or cross a diode
32
What is the space between the vertical rows called?
The gutter or ravine
33
What is a potentiometer?
- A resistor whose levels of resistance can be changed - it has a wiper on a resistive track - it works by picking up an input voltage and transferring different amounts to a circuit - depending on the position of the wiper, more or less electrons will have room to travel through the potentiometer (think of two rivers) - they are important because, sometimes, without the control over electron flow, the LED can burn out
34
Resistors have four or five bands. Which are the multipliers?
4 bands: 3rd is the multiplier 5 bands: 4th band is the multiplier
35
What is a capacitor?
- an element that temporarily stores energy --> cannot store as much energy as a battery but can charge and release energy much faster (think of the hose to water tank with hole analogy) - they have capacitance, which is their ability to tore energy - standard unit or capacitance is one farad (F) - a curved line on the capacitor means that it is polarized -
36
How does a capacitor work?
- it is made up of two metal plates and an insulating dielectric between (like a sandwich) - One of the plates is full of electrons, the other is not, which creates opposite charges, and therefore, a magnetic field - when the circuit is created, the electrons will finally have a place to go, and so they will quickly travel through the circuit and to the other plate - when the other plate gets too full of electrons, it will repel anymore (this is when you see the capacitance) - this smoothens out voltages - if you were to turn the switch of a circuit on and off, the LED would turn on and off. But, with the capacitor, the LED would stay on because of mthe capacitor's temporary hold on electric charge
37
What is a multimeter?
A tool for measuring the current, voltage, and resistance of a circuit
38
What does it mean for an item to have an electric charge?
For an item to have an electric charge, it must have undergone a transfer of electrons, whether it has gained electrons or lost them. Having gained electrons, the item would be considered negatively charged and having lost electrons, the item would be considered positively charged.
39
Explain the resistor colour code
4 bands: - 1st band represents the first digit value (Ex: 2) - 2nd represents the second digit value (Ex: 7) - 3rd band represents the multiplier (Ex: 10^4) - 4th band represents the tolerance (the deviation/variation from its known resistor value) Final value (resistance)= 27 x 10^4 = 270000 ohms or 270 kilo ohms 5 bands (essentially the same, but instead of 2 digits, its three)
40
What is the colour order and reading order of resistors
Colour: Brown Black Rainbow Grey White Gold Silver Read from top to bottom, starting with the side that has the most bands. The digits go up to nine and stop The multipliers go up to 10^9 and then go to 10^-1 and 10^-2
41
What is Kirchhoff's voltage law?
That the total voltage minus the the sum of all voltage drops around a closed circuit is equal to zero
42
What is a watt and how do you calculate it?
The rate at which energy is transferred or used. W= Amps x Voltage W= I x V
43
How do you calculate for watts?
W = Amps x Voltage
44
What is charged represented by?
Q
45
How do you calculate the charge on a capacitor?
Farads x Voltage = Charge The greater the amount of voltage, the greater will the amount of charge stored on the plates of the capacitor
46
What is a coulomb?
The number of amps traveling per second. This is a unit of charge, represented by C
47
What is the force that binds protons together in the nucleus?
Nuclear force affects very short distances
48
What is a semiconductor?
- they have the unique property of being able to conduct electricity under certain conditions
49
What is a superconductivity?
Most metals become poorer conductors when heated, and better when cooled.
50
What is the liquid flow analogy?
The liquid flow analogy refers to the flow of electrons
51
What is AWG?
American Wire Gauge
52
What is the standard wire size for a breadboard?
AWG 22
53
What is a load?
A load is a component that consumes electrical energy (power) and converts it into another form such as light, energy or heat.
54
What are the top and bottom rail, the vertical rails, and gaps called on a breadboard?
Top rails: Power Rails Vertical rails: terminal strips Gap: Gutter or ravine
55
What are breadboards?
- It is a solderless breadboard, meaning that it does not use any metals - it is made of plastic, with holes, that are great units for making temporary circuits and prototyping. - if it is solderless, it is an unpermanent connection
56
What is ground?
Electrons flow through every path possible to get to the point of lowest voltage (usually called ground)
57
What is a rectifier diode?
Rectifier diodes are used to convert alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) This conversion is important for all sorts of household electronics. AC signals come out of the wall outlets, but DC is what powers most computers and other electronics.
58
What voltage do we use every day?
AC (alternating current)
59
What is nodal analysis?
A way of determining the voltage at each node
60
What is a pushbutton?
A pushbutton is a mechanical device that allows contact between two terminals. All four of its terminals are connected when you press the button. Otherwise, it is the two vertical terminals that are connected ALWAYS
61
How does a capacitor smooth out voltages?
Think of the water tank analogy: - there is water going through a hose, into a tank, and out of a hole in the tank - when the water fro the hose stops running, the tank will still release the remaining water it has, until it no longer can - Hence, the voltage is smoothened out because, even an electrical pulse passes, energy is still be put to use because the capacitor stores the energy
62
What is a transistor?
- small electronic switches or amplifiers that control the flow of electrons
63
What are the two types of transistors and their differences
NPN and PNP NPN: when electrons flow to the base, a junction is formed between the collector and the emitter PNP: Opposite
64
What did Benjamin Franklin conclude?
Benjamin Franklin concluded that the reason for charges were due to an excess or lack of a fluid between items, causing an attraction between them (the item would want to reach stability again)
65
What is the water tank analogy for voltage, current, and resistance?
Water is flowing from a tank and through the hose Voltage: The more water, the more pressure there will be on the water to flow Current: The speed at which the water is flowing Resistance: The thickness of the hose will allow more or less water to flow through
66
What is a short circuit and what is an open circuit?
A short circuit is a circuit with very low resistance causing an infinite flow of electrons which causes heating, burning, and/or damage to the water. An open circuit is what is sounds like; it is open, and therefore, dysfunctional (usually due to a broken wire)
67
If you were to remove the battery from a circuit that had a capacitor, what would occur?
The capacitor, with its stored electron on one side, would transfer the electrons to the LED, keeping it lit. From there, the electrons would flow to the opposite side of the capacitor. The capacitor would stop sending electrons once both of its side have an equal amount of electrons.
68
What is the uniform motion of electrons?
Electricity or electric current
69
What is current capacity?
The amount of current that a wire can carry. If too much current is pushed through the wire, it can catch fire
70

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