3/18/2016

WhatisaCircuit?learn.sparkfun.com

WhatisaCircuit?
CONTRIBUTORS:
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MIKEGRUSIN
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Overview
Welcometocircuits101!Oneofthefirstthingsyoullencounterwhenlearningaboutelectronicsisthe
conceptofacircuit.Thistutorialwillexplainwhatacircuitis,aswellasdiscussvoltageinfurtherdetail.

Asimplecircuit,involvingabutton,anLED,andaresistor,builttwodifferentways.

SuggestedReading
Thereareafewconceptsyoushouldhaveagoodunderstandingoftohelpyougetthemostoutofthis
tutorial.
WhatisElectricity?
ElectricPower
Voltage,Current,Resistance,andOhmsLaw
AlternatingCurrent(AC)vsDirectCurrent(DC)
Polarity

CircuitBasics
VolatageandHowitWorks
Youveprobablyheardthatabatteryorawalloutlethasacertainnumberofvolts.Thisisa
measurementoftheelectricalpotentialproducedbythebattery,ortheutilitygridconnectedtothewall
outlet.
Allthosevoltsaresittingtherewaitingforyoutousethem,buttheresacatch:inorderforelectricityto
doanywork,itneedstobeabletomove.Itskindoflikeablownupballoonifyoupinchitoff,there
isairintherethatcoulddosomethingifitsreleased,butitwontactuallydoanythinguntilyouletitout.
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Unlikeaircomingoutofaballoon,electricitycanonlyflowthroughmaterialsthatcanconductelectricity,
suchascopperwire.Ifyouconnectawiretoabatteryorwalloutlet(WARNING:thevoltageinawall
outletisdangerous,dontdothis!),youwillbegivingtheelectricityapathtofollow.Butifthewireisnt
connectedtoanythingelse,theelectricitywonthaveanywheretogoandstillwontmove.

Whatmakeselectricitymove?Electricitywantstoflowfromahighervoltagetoalowervoltage.
Thisisexactlyliketheballoon:thepressurizedairintheballoonwantstoflowfrominsidetheballoon
(higherpressure)tooutsidetheballoon(lowerpressure).Ifyoucreateaconductivepathbetweena
highervoltageandalowervoltage,electricitywillflowalongthatpath.Andifyouinsertsomethinguseful
intothatpathlikeanLED,theflowingelectricitywilldosomeworkforyou,likelightingupthatLED.
Huzzah!

So,wheredoyoufindahighervoltageandalowervoltage?Heressomethingreallyusefultoknow:
everysourceofelectricityhastwosides.Youcanseethisonbatteries,whichhavemetalcapson
bothends,oryourwalloutletthathastwo(ormore)holes.InbatteriesandotherDC(DirectCurrent)
voltagesources,thesesides(oftencalledterminals)arenamedpositive(or+),andnegative(or).
Whydoeseverysourceofelectricityhavetwosides?Thisgoesbacktotheideaofpotential,andthat
youneedavoltagedifferenceinordertogetelectricitytoflow.Itsoundssilly,butyoucanthavea
differencewithouttwothingstobedifferent.Inanypowersupply,thepositivesidewillhaveahigher
voltagethanthenegativeside,whichisexactlywhatwewant.Infact,whenwemeasurevoltage,we
usuallysaythatthenegativesideis0volts,andthepositivesideishowevermanyvoltsthesupplycan
provide.
Electricalsourcesarelikepumps.Pumpsalwayshavetwosides,anoutletthatblowssomethingout,and
aninletthatsuckssomethingin.Batteriesandgeneratorsandsolarpanelsworkthesameway.
Somethinginsidethemishardatworkmovingelectricitytowardstheoutlet(thepositiveside),butallthat
electricityleavingthedevicecreatesavoid,whichmeansthatthenegativesideneedstopullelectricity
intoreplaceit.*
Whathavewelearnedsofar?
Voltageispotential,butelectricityneedstoflowtodoanythinguseful.
Electricityneedsapathtoflowthrough,whichmustbeanelectricalconductorsuchascopper
wire.
Electricitywillflowfromahighervoltagetoalowervoltage.
DCvoltagesourcesalwayshavetwosides,calledpositiveandnegative,withthepositivesidea
highervoltagethanthenegativeside.

TheSimplestCircuit
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Werefinallyreadytomakeelectricityworkforus!Ifweconnectthepositivesideofavoltagesource,
throughsomethingthatdoessomeworksuchasaLightEmittingDiode(LED),andbacktothenegative
sideofthevoltagesourceelectricity,orcurrent,willflow.Andwecanputthingsinthepaththatdo
usefulthingswhencurrentflowsthroughthem,likeLEDsthatlightup.

Thiscircularpath,whichisalwaysrequiredtogetelectricitytoflowanddosomethinguseful,is
calledacircuit.Acircuitisapaththatstartsandstopsatthesameplace,whichisexactlywhatwere
doing.
Clickthislinktoseeasimulationofcurrentflowingthroughasimplecircuit.ThissimulationrequiresJava
torun.

*BenjaminFranklinoriginallywrotethatelectricityflowsfromthepositivesideofavoltagesourcetothe
negativeside.However,Franklinhadnowayofknowingthatelectronsactuallyflowintheopposite
directionattheatomiclevel,theycomeoutofthenegativesideandloopbacktothepositiveside.
BecauseengineersfollowedFranklinsleadforhundredsofyearsbeforethetruthwasdiscovered,we
stillusethewrongconventiontothisday.Practicallyspeakingthisdetaildoesntmatter,andaslongas
everyoneusesthesameconvention,wecanallbuildcircuitsthatworkjustfine.

ShortandOpenCircuits
WhatisaLoad?
Thereasonwewanttobuildcircuitsistomakeelectricitydousefulthingsforus.Thewaywedothatis
byputtingthingsinthecircuitthatusethecurrentflowtolightup,makenoise,runprograms,etc.
Thesethingsarecalledloads,becausetheyloaddownthepowersupply,justlikeyoureloaded
downwhenyourecarryingsomething.Thesamewayyoucouldbeloadeddownwithtoomuchweight,
itspossibletoloaddownapowersupplytoomuch,whichwillslowdownthecurrentflow.Butunlikeyou,
itsalsopossibletoloaddownacircuittoolittlethismaylettoomuchcurrentflow(imaginerunningtoo
fastifyouwerentcarryinganyweight),whichcanburnoutyourpartsoreventhepowersupply.
Youlllearnallaboutvoltage,current,andloadsinthenexttutorial:Voltage,Current,Resistance,and
OhmsLaw.Butfornow,letslearnabouttwospecialcasesofcircuit:shortcircuit,andopencircuit.
Knowingaboutthesewillhelptremendouslywhenyouretroubleshootingyourowncircuits.

ShortCircuit
DONTDOTHIS,butifyouconnectawiredirectlyfromthepositivetothenegativesideofapower
supply,youllcreatewhatiscalledashortcircuit.Thisisaverybadidea.
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Thisseemslikethebestpossiblecircuit,sowhyisitabadidea?Rememberthatelectricalcurrentwants
toflowfromahighervoltagetoalowervoltage,andifyouputaloadintothecurrent,youcando
somethingusefullikelightupanLED.
IfyouDOhavealoadinthecurrent,thecurrentflowthroughyourcircuitwillbelimitedtothatwhichyour
deviceconsumes,whichisusuallyaverysmallamount.However,ifyouDONTputanythingintorestrict
thecurrentflow,therewontbeanythingtoslowdownthecurrent,anditwilltrytobeinfinite!
Yourpowersupplycantprovideinfinitecurrent,butitwillprovideasmuchasitcan,whichmaybealot.
Thiscouldcauseyourwiretoburnup,damagethepowersupply,drainyourbattery,orotherexciting
things.Mostofthetimeyourpowersupplywillhavesomesortofsafetymechanismbuiltintoittolimit
themaximumcurrentintheeventofashortcircuit,butnotalways.Thisisthereasonallhomesand
buildingshavecircuitbreakers,topreventfiresfromstartingintheeventofashortcircuitsomewherein
thewiring.
Acloselyrelatedproblemisaccidentallylettingtoomuchcurrentflowthroughpartofyourcircuit,causing
aparttoburnup.Thisisntquiteashortcircuit,butitsclose.Thismostoftenhappenswhenyouusethe
incorrectresistorvalue,whichletstoomuchcurrentflowthroughanothercomponentsuchasanLED.

Thebottomline:ifyounoticethatthingsaresuddenlybecominghotorapartsuddenlyburns
out,immediatelyturnoffthepowerandlookforpossibleshortcircuits.

OpenCircuit
Theoppositeofashortcircuitisanopencircuit.Thisisacircuitwheretheloopisntfullyconnected
(andthereforethisisntreallyacircuitatall).

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Unliketheshortcircuitabove,nothingwillgethurtbythiscircuit,butyourcircuitwontworkeither.If
yourenewatcircuits,itcanoftenbehardtofindwherethebreakis,especiallyifyoureusing
breadboardswherealltheconductorsarehidden.
Ifyourcircuitdoesntwork,themostlikelycauseisanopencircuit.Thisisusuallyduetoabroken
connectionoraloosewire.(Shortcircuitscanstealallthepowerfromtherestofyourcircuit,sobesure
tolookforthoseaswell.)
TIP:ifyoucanteasilyfindwhereyourcircuitisopen,amultimetercanbeveryusefultool.Ifyousetit
tomeasurevolts,youcanuseittocheckthevoltageatvariouspointsinyourpoweredcircuit,and
eventuallyfindthepointwherevoltageisntgettingthrough.

ResourcesandGoingFurther
Youvejustlearned,initsmostbasicform,whatacircuitis.Asyoukeeplearning,youllencountermore
complexcircuitsthathavemultipleloopsandmanymoreelectroniccomponents.ButALLcircuits,no
matterhowcomplex,willfollowthesamerulesasthebasiconeloopcircuityoujustlearnedabout.
Yourjourneyintoelectronicsisjustbeginning,herearesomesuggestednexttopicstoexplore:
Breadboardsareusefultoolsthatletyouquicklybuildtemporarycircuitsusingjumperwires.We
usethemallthetime.Youalsomaywanttomasterworkingwithwiretohelpyoubuildyour
circuits.
Amultimeterletsyoumeasurevoltage,current,andresistanceandisagreathelpwhentryingto
troubleshootmalfunctioningcircuits.
Circuitscomeinalldifferentsizes,shapes,andconfigurations.Checkouttheseriesvsparallel
circuitstutorialtoseecircuitstakentothenextlevel.
Herearesometutorialsonthemostcommoncomponentsyoullusewhenbuildingcircuits.
Agreatwaytolearnaboutcircuitsistostartmakingsome.OurLEDtutorialwillshowhowtolight
uponeormanyLEDs.
Resistorsareoneofthemostwidelyusedcomponentsincircuits.
Capacitorsarealsofoundinmostcircuits.AsareDiodes.

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