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Textbook Reading
What is Electronics?
Electronics is all about how Just like the water coming out of a
electricity flows through things like hose can spray out at different
resistors, capacitors, transistors, pressures and volumes, so can
IC’s, etc. Think of electricity like electricity. Imagine a small hose,
water flowing through a hose. like a garden hose with your finger
Imagine you have a pump with the over the end so it sprays water
outlet of the pump going to a water really far. This water is coming out
wheel, and the inlet coming from at high pressure, and maybe
the basin under the water wheel. sprays 20 feet. Pressure in
electronics is called “Voltage”.
Now imagine that you had a really
big pipe, and lots of water was
coming out of it, but it was flowing
slowly – just kind of pouring out
the end. The water is coming out
at low pressure, but at a high
volume or amount. In other
words, lots of gallons of water are
coming out, but it only travels a
The pump is like a battery, the foot or two through the air as it
hoses like wires and the water dumps out of the pipe. The
wheel is like a light bulb, motor, or volume of water is equivalent to
anything else that uses electricity. current (measured in amps) in
If we haven’t decided what to hook electricity. Now, imagine a big
up there yet, we sometimes just pipe with a lot of pressure – lots of
call it a “device”. Now, as long as gallons coming out, and it sprays
the pump is going, the water wheel for 20 feet. This is like high
turns. What would happen if you voltage AND high current (a deadly
pinched the hose? The flow of combination if you touch it).
water would stop and the water So, voltage is electrical “pressure”
wheel would stop. This is what a and current (amps) is electrical
switch does in a circuit – it stops “volume”. Together they
the flow of electricity. determine how much total energy
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