3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

ELECTRONICS HUB
P R OJ E C T S | T U TO R I A L S | C O U R S E S | K I T S

HOME PROJECTS MINI PROJECTS FREE CIRCUITS TUTORIALS SYMBOLS DIY

PROJECT KITS COURSES CONTACT US

YOU ARE HERE: HOME / GENERAL / BASIC ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS

Basic Electronic Components

OCTOBER 26, 2017 BY RAVI — 4 COMMENTS

If you are new to electronics or starting to build electronic circuits, then the important thing to
do is to get familiar with few Basic Electronic Components and Equipment. Without
understanding these basic electronic components i.e. their values, ratings, purpose etc. your
circuit design might not function as expected.

There are many electronic components like Resistors, Capacitors, LEDs, Transistors, etc. and
there are also many equipment like a Power Supply, Oscilloscope, Function Generator (or
https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 1/23
3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

Signal Generator), Multimeter, etc.

In this tutorial, you can get a brief overview of few of the most common basic electronic
components. For more information about a particular component, you can check out the link
associated with individual component.

You can easily understand the concept if I divide this tutorial in to Basic Electronic
Components and Measurement and Analysis Equipment. So, rst, I’ll start with the basic
electronic components.

Table of Contents 
1. Basic Electronic Components
1.1. Active Electronic Components
1.1.1. Diodes
1.1.2. Transistors
1.1.3. Integrated Circuits (ICs)
1.2. Passive Components
1.2.1. Resistors
1.2.2. Capacitors
1.2.3. Inductors
1.3. Power Sources
1.3.1. DC Power Supply
1.3.2. Batteries
1.4. Display Devices
1.4.1. 16 x 2 LCD
1.4.2. 7 – Segment Display
2. Basic Test and Measurement Equipment
2.1. Oscilloscope
2.2. Multimeter
2.3. Function Generator or Signal Generator

Basic Electronic Components

There are many ways to classify di erent types of electronic components but the most
common way is to classify them in to three types: Active Electronic Components, Passive
Electronic Components and Electromechanical Components.

https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 2/23
3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

Active Electronic Components

Strictly speaking in terms of Physics, an Active Component is a device that acts as a source of
energy, like a battery. But the de nition of Active Components according to few electronic
engineers is that they are the devices that depend on a source of energy and can introduce
power in to a circuit.

Active Electronic Components can control the ow of electrons through them. Some of the
commonly used Active Components are Transistors, Diodes, ICs (Integrated Circuits), Power
Sources (Batteries, AC and DC Power Supplies), etc.

Diodes

Diode is a non-linear semiconductor device that allows ow of current in one direction. A

Diode is a two – terminal device and the two terminals are Anode and Cathode respectively.
The following is the symbol of a Diode.

https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 3/23
3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

There are again a variety of components that come under the category of Diodes. They are PN
Junction Diode, Light Emitting Diode (LED), Zener Diode, Schottky Diode, Photodiode and
DIAC.

Normal PN Diodes are often used in AC to DC Converter circuits. You might be familiar with
LED or a Light Emitting Diode. It is a semiconductor device (or a PN Junction diode, to be more
speci c) that emits light when activated.

A Zener Diode allows ow of current in both directions and is often used as a voltage stabilizer.
Schottky Diode is similar to a regular PN Diode but with less forward current and hence is
often used in fast switching circuits. 

“ More information about DIODES.

Transistors
https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 4/23
3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

Transistor, the invention that changed the future of electronic circuits, is a semiconductor
device that can be used to either switch electrical power or amplify electronic signals.

A Transistor is a 3 terminal device that can either a current controlled device or a voltage
controlled device. Transistors are further classi ed in to Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT) and
Field E ect Transistors (FET).

A Bipolar Junction Transistor or BJT uses both the charge carriers i.e. electrons and holes and
is often used as a current ampli er. Based on the construction, BJTs are further divided in to
NPN and PNP Transistors.

Field E ect Transistor or FET uses only a single charge carrier. Junction FET (JFET) and Metal
Oxide Semiconductor FET (MOSFET) are the two types of FETs. 

“ More information on TRANSISTORS.

Based on the construction of the FETs, they are divided in to two types: N – Channel and P –
Channel. MOSFETs are commonly used in power supplies, Audio circuits and other power
electronic applications.

https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 5/23
3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

The combination of N – Channel MOSFET and P – Channel MOSFET, which is called

Complimentary Metal – oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) is a very common digital logic in the
manufacturing of microprocessors, microcontrollers, Memory modules and other VLSI (Very
Large Scale Integration) Integrated Circuits (IC).

https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 6/23
3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

Integrated Circuits (ICs)

An Integrated Circuit or an IC is an integration or incorporation of several electronic

components (mainly transistors) on a single device (or chip) made up of a semiconductor
material (usually Silicon).

Almost all electronic devices like TVs, Mobile Phones, Laptops, Audio Players, Routers, etc.
have Integrated Circuit in them.

ICs are again divided in to Analog ICs and Digital ICs. Analog ICs work on Analog Signals like
Temperature, Audio, etc. which are continuously varying in nature. Digital ICs on the other
hand, work on Discrete Signals i.e. zero volts and a non-zero volts (like 5V or 3.3V) that are
represented as Binary 0 and 1.

The commonly used IC in basic electronic circuits are Op – Amps (Operational Ampli ers) like
LM741, Timers like NE555, Microcontrollers like AT89S52, Counters like CD4017 and Motor
Drivers like L293D.

Passive Components
Passive Components cannot control the ow of current through them i.e. they cannot
introduce energy in to the circuit but can increase or decrease voltage and current.

https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 7/23
3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

Two terminal components like Resistors, Capacitors, Inductors and transformers are examples
of Passive Components.

Resistors

The basic of all electronic components are the Resistors. It is a passive electronic components
that introduces electrical resistance in to the circuit. Using resistors, we can reduce the current,
divide voltages, setup biasing of transistors (or other active elements), etc.

Resistors are again divided in to Fixed Resistors and Variable Resistors. Fixed Resistors, as the
name suggests, have a xed resistance and its resistance doesn’t change due to external
parameters. 

“ Read about Resistors here: INTRODUCTION TO RESISTORS.

Variable Resistors, on the other hand, have a variable resistance that can either be changed
manually like in case or Trimmers and Potentiometers or which controlled by external factors
like Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) or Thermistor.

https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 8/23
3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

Ohm’s Law de nes the behavior of a resistor which states that the current through a conductor
is directly proportional to the voltage across the conductor. The proportionality constant is
called as Resistance.

The mathematical representation of Ohm’s Law is I = V/R.

Capacitors

The second important passive components is a capacitor, a device that stores energy in the
form of electric eld. Most capacitors consists of two conducting plates that are separated by
a dielectric material.

If Q is the charge on any one of the conductor plates and V is the voltage between them, then
the Capacitance C of the Capacitor is C = Q/V.

https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 9/23
3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

In electronics circuits, a capacitor is mainly used to block DC Current and allow AC Current.
The other applications of capacitors are lters, timing circuits, power supplies and energy
storing elements.

There are many types of Capacitors like Polarized, Non – Polarized, Ceramic, Film, Electrolytic,
Super Capacitors etc.

“ Also Read INTRODUCTION TO CAPACITORS.

Inductors

If capacitors store energy in the form of electric eld, then inductors are devices that store
energy in the form of Magnetic Field. Inductor is nothing but a wire that is wound in the form of
a coil.

Inductor is also a passive component and is widely used in AC equipment like lters, chokes,
tuned circuits etc.

https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 10/23
3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

The core around which the coil is wound i.e. air, iron, ferrite etc. will determine the strength of
the magnetic eld. Inductors opposes the change in electric current through them and the
changes in current will result in induction of voltage. 

“ More information on INDUCTORS.

Power Sources
DC Power Supply

Bench Power Supply is an important piece of equipment when it comes to working around
electronic circuits. Electronic components majorly work on DC Power Supply and hence
having a reliable source of DC Power Supply is very important.

There are many types of Power Supplies like AC – to – DC Power Supplies, Linear Regulators,
Switching Mode Power Supply, etc.

https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 11/23
3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

An alternative to bench power supply is to use a wall adapter as per the project requirement
like 5V or 12V.

Batteries

Battery is a device that converts chemical energy in to electrical energy and provides power to
devices like mobile phones, laptops, ashlights, etc. In electronics, we often use batteries to
power our circuits, either to make the circuit portable or just to test the functionality of the
circuit.

https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 12/23
3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

Batteries come in di erent sizes and voltage. Batteries are also classi ed as Primary and
Secondary. You can use Primary Batteries until they are drained out and discard them later. In
case of Secondary Batteries, you can use them even after they are drained out by recharging
them.

In electronic circuits, we often use 1.5V AA Batteries or 9V PP3 Batteries.

Display Devices
16 x 2 LCD

The most commonly used display module in electronic circuits is an LCD Display and in
particular, a 16 x 2 LCD Display. It is an alpha – numeric display with two rows and 16 columns
and can display a maximum of 32 characters.

7 – Segment Display

Another common display module is the Seven Segment Display. It can be used to display
decimal numerals in di erent electronic devices like clocks, meters, calculators, public
information systems, etc.

https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 13/23
3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

“ Read more about 7-SEGMENT DISPLAY.

Basic Test and Measurement Equipment

When it comes to designing electronic circuits, testing and measuring various parameters like
current, voltage, frequency, resistance, capacitance, etc. is very important. Hence, the Test and
Measurement Equipment like Oscilloscopes, Multimeters, Logic Analyzers, Function
Generators (or Signal Generators) are often used regularly.

Oscilloscope
The most reliable Test Equipment for observing continuously varying signals is an
Oscilloscope. With the help of an Oscilloscope, we can observe the changes in an electrical
signal like voltage, over time.

Oscilloscopes are used in a wide range of eld like Medical, Electronic, Automobile, Industrial
and Telecommunication Applications.

https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 14/23
3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

Originally, Oscilloscopes are made up of Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) displays but nowadays,
almost all Oscilloscopes are Digital Oscilloscopes with advanced features like storage and
memory.

Multimeter
A multimeter is a combination of Voltmeter, Ammeter and Ohmmeter. They provide an easy
way to measure di erent parameters of an electronic circuit like current, voltage etc.

Multimeters can measure values in both AC and DC. Earlies Multimeters are Analog and
consists of a pointing needle. Modern Multimeters are Digital and are often called as Digital
Multimeters or DMMs.

https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 15/23
3/12/2018 Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment

DMMs are available as handheld devices as well as bench devices. A Multimeter can be very
handy in nding basic faults in a circuit.

Function Generator or Signal Generator

A Signal Generator, as the name suggests, generates a variety of signals for testing and
troubleshooting electronic circuits. The most common types of signals are Triangular Wave,
Sine Wave, Square Wave and Sawtooth Wave.

Along with a bench power supply and oscilloscope, a function generator is also an important
piece of equipment when designing electronic circuits.

In this article, we have seen few Basic Electronic Components and Test Equipment that we
come across very frequently when designing or testing electronic circuits.

There are a lot more components like Transformers, Buttons, Switches, Connectors, etc. which
we can explore as we move forward with a project.

https://www.electronicshub.org/basic-electronic-components/ 16/23