EMI, RFI, EMC, EMS, What's the Difference?
EMI, RFI, EMC, and EMS all refer to different aspects of radio frequency interference which may cause elecronic devices to malfunction. Correcting these problems can be an art and a science. More ...
Electric Fields and Static Electricity
Static electricity is a phenomenon caused by a buildup of unbalanced electric charge that is not moving. We are all familiar with the static electric charge caused by dragging our feet across a carpet and then the sudden static discharge caused by grabbing a door knob. More ...
What Is an Electronic Circuit?
Circuits provide a path for current to flow. To be a circuit, this path must start and end at the same point. In other words, a circuit must form a loop. More ...
Electronics Lab
Even though an electronic circuit may appear to work on paper, and maybe even in a circuit simulator, it's always important to test it in the real world. Prototype circuits can be built using a solderless breadboard. More ...
Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Bipolar Technology
Bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) are still used in integrated circuits (ICs) for switching, signal amplification, and radio-frequency circuits because they are faster than CMOS transistors. More ...
Inductors in Series and Parallel
Inductances in series add like resistances in series. The total value is the sum of the individual values. Inductances in parallel values add up like the values of resistors in parallel. The reciprocal of total inductance is the sum of reciprocals of all the individual inductances. More ...
Direct Current
The nucleus of an atom is relatively heavy, so electricity primarily involves the flow of electrons. The nucleus of an atom generally doesn't move much. More ...
Light Emitting Diode (LED)
An LED is a diode that converts electrical current directly into light and therefore it is more efficient than other sources of light which convert some energy into heat. When electrons recombine with holes in the depletion region they release energy in the form of light photons. More ...
How to Read a Capacitor's Values
Due to the limited space available for printing, physically small capacitors are especially difficult to read. Therefore capacitors use a wide variety of codes to describe their characteristics. More ...
Lead-Acid Battery Chemistry
As a lead-acid battery is repeatedly recharged, sulfation will build-up on the plates and the battery will begin to loose its capacity to restore to a full charge and eventually must be replaced. More ...
The Diode
A diode is a semiconductor component designed to allow current to pass in one direction. To form a diode, a P type semiconductor is joined with an N type of the same semiconductor element, forming a P-N junction. Diodes are used for turning AC to DC, isolating signals, and mixing signals. More ...
Transforming Sources for Circuit Analysis
Kirchhoff's laws and Ohm's laws can get pretty laborious when you're analyzing complex circuits. Through a transformation technique, you modify a complex circuit so that in the transformed circuit, the devices are all connected in series or in parallel. After the transformation, you no longer need to systematically apply Kirchhoff's laws. More ...
Lithium Ion Battery Chemistry
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are one of the most common portable power sources used today. Impurities in the materials used to construct a lithium battery can cause it to overheat. More ...
Integrated Circuits
An integrated circuit (IC) is a thin rectangular piece of semiconductor upon which, using a photographic process, thousands of electronic components, and the conducting paths to connect them, are printed. The types circuits that can be etched into a semiconductor chip range from amplifiers to logic gates and even microprocessors with millions of transistors. More ...
