Basic Electronics

An introduction to electronics to help you make the most from your Arduino or other prototyping platform.

Last updated 2022-01-10 | 4.5

- Understand the concepts of voltage
- resistance and current
- Use Ohm's Law to calculate voltage
- current and resistance
- Use Kirchhoff's Laws to calculate voltage and current

What you'll learn

Understand the concepts of voltage

resistance and current

Use Ohm's Law to calculate voltage

current and resistance

Use Kirchhoff's Laws to calculate voltage and current

Understand the meaning of and calculate energy and power

Use resistors in various configurations

like in voltage dividers and voltage ladders

Read the value of a resistor from its package

Use pull-up and pull-down resistors

Understand the use of capacitors

Use capacitors as energy stores and filters

Calculate the RC time constant of a capacitor

Understand diodes

Measure the voltage drop of a diode

Understand how to use rectifier and zener diodes

Protect a circuit from reverse polarity

Understand how to use a transistor to control low and high power loads

Calculate the currents and base resistor for a bipolar transistor

Use the correct voltage regulator for any circuit

* Requirements

* Small circuits controlled by an Arduino
* A basic understanding of electricity and electronics
* Have assorted resistors
* capacitors
* LEDs
* diodes
* transistors
* voltage regulators (see section 1 for details
* free to view)
* A breadboard
* jumper wires and a battery (see section 1 for details
* free to view)
* A multimeter (see section 1 for details
* free to view)
* Basic algebra

Description

Understand the concepts of voltage, resistance and current
Use Ohm's Law to calculate voltage, current and resistance
Use Kirchhoff's Laws to calculate voltage and current
Understand the meaning of and calculate energy and power
Use resistors in various configurations, like in voltage dividers and voltage ladders
Read the value of a resistor from its package
Use pull-up and pull-down resistors
Understand the use of capacitors
Use capacitors as energy stores and filters
Calculate the RC time constant of a capacitor
Understand diodes
Measure the voltage drop of a diode
Understand how to use rectifier and zener diodes
Protect a circuit from reverse polarity
Understand how to use a transistor to control low and high power loads
Calculate the currents and base resistor for a bipolar transistor
Use the correct voltage regulator for any circuit

Course content

8 sections • 63 lectures

Starting up 5 lectures

Study guide Preview 06:08

Parts list Preview 00:05

For a list of parts and tools that I use in this course please see https://techexplorations.com/parts/befam-parts/

The tools you will need Preview 07:13

The parts you will need Preview 08:56

About software Preview 12:27

Electronics, basic concepts 11 lectures

Electricity, particles, and current Preview 07:28

What is voltage? Preview 04:59

What is voltage? (supplemental) Preview 13:11

What is current? Preview 04:32

What is resistance? Preview 06:49

Ohm's Law Preview 11:58

Ohm's Law

The questions in this quiz will test your understanding of Ohm's Law

Calculating energy Preview 04:44

Power and energy

These questions will test your understanding of power and energy.

Kirchhoff's Law Preview 12:43

Kirchhoff's Law example Preview 09:14

Resistors 14 lectures

Introduction to resistors Preview 18:44

Reading resistor values

These questions will help you practice your resistor value reading skills.

A simple resistor circuit Preview 13:30

Resistor power rating Preview 04:15

Resistor power

Can you determine if a given resistor can be safely used under the specified current requirements in the following questions?

The variable resistor Preview 11:25

Voltage divider Preview 11:46

Voltage dividers

These questions will exercise you in calculating voltage divider outputs.

Voltage divider with current draw Preview 09:51

Voltage dividers, with current draw

Using the 10% rule, calculate the appropriate resistors in the voltage divider for the following problem.

Current divider Preview 07:40

Current dividers

The questions in this quiz will help you practice solving current divider problems.

Solution to Quiz 7, Question 2 Preview 13:15

Pull-up and pull-down resistors Preview 11:59

Capacitors 9 lectures

Introduction to capacitors Preview 11:53

Basic capacitor quiz

These questions will help you practice your basic capacitor skills.

Capacitors for storing energy Preview 09:03

Capacitors as filter Preview 10:21

Capacitors in series and parallel Preview 09:50

Capacitors in parallel and series

These questions are about capacitors connected in parallel.

What is the RC time constant Preview 11:32

An RC time constant experiment Preview 11:00

RC time constant

These questions will help you practice your knowledge of the RC time constant.

Diodes 11 lectures

Introduction to diodes Preview 15:04

Voltage drop and current regulation Preview 12:00

Measuring the voltage drop in a diode Preview 04:56

The voltage dropper circuit Preview 09:49

Voltage drop

These questions will help you practice your understanding of the diode voltage drop concept.

Zener diodes Preview 09:01

A circuit that includes a zener diode with a load Preview 13:45

Zener diode

This problem will help you consolidate your working knowledge of the Zener diode.

Reverse polarity protection Preview 04:37

How to calculate the appropriate resistor value for an LED Preview 07:37

Calculating the LED protective resistor

These questions will help you practice calculating the correct resistor for an LED.