COMPONENTS

SYMBOLS

PHOTOGRAPH

DEFINITION

WIRES
Represents a conductor tha t conducts
electrica l current. Also called a power line or
electric line or wire.

Wires

Connected Wires

Represents the co nnection o f two

conductors. Dot shows the junctio n point.

Unconnected Wires

Represents two unconnected

wires/co nducto rs. Any of the two metho ds
ca n be fo llowed. Drawing two lines
perpendicularly is an o lder method of
representing unconnected wires.

Input Bus Line

Represents a bus for input or incoming data.

Output Bus Line

Represents a bus for output or outgoing data.

Terminal

Represents start or end point.

Represents a number o f co nducto rs joined

to gether to form a bus wire.

Bus Line
SWITCHES
Switch

A dev ice for ma king a nd brea king the

co nnectio n in a n electric circuit.

Ma gnetic Circuit
Brea ker

A ma gnetic circuit brea ker is a safety device

designed to cut an electrica l current in the
event of a power surge, thus protecting
electrica l equipment a nd circuitry from
dama ge.

Therma l /
Ma gnetic Circuit
Brea ker

Thermal-magnetic circuit breakers conta in

two different switching mechanisms, a
bimetal switch and a n electrom agnet. The
bimeta l serves as a mea ns o f ha ndling
o vercurrents. . .. Electrica l current exceeding
the breaker-o verload ra ting heats the bimetal
eno ugh to bend it to ward the trip bar.

Liquid Level Switch

A floa t switch is a device used to detect the

lev el o f liquid within a tank. The switch may
be used in a pump, a n indicator, an ala rm, o r
o ther devices.

P ush Button
(N ormally Open)

This switch is in ON state when the butto n is

pressed o therwise it is in OFF sta te.

P ush Button
(No rma lly Clo sed)

T his switch is initially in ON state. This go es

to OFF sta te when it is released.

SP ST (Single pole
single thro w)
Switch

Single pole single throw is a bbrevia ted as

SPST. This allo ws the flo w of current when
then switch is closed. This acts a s ON /OFF
switch. Poles define the number of circuits it
can be co nnected to and throws defines the
number o f po sitions tha t a po le co nnects.

SPDT (Single po le
double throw)
Switch

Single po le do uble thro w is abbrevia ted as

SPDT. This switch a llows the current to flo w in
any one of the two directions by adjusting its
po sition.

DPST (Double
po le single thro w)
Switch

Double pole single thro w is abbreviated as

DPST. This switch can drive two circuits at a
time

DP DT (Do uble
pole do uble
throw) Switch

Double po le double thro w is the full form o f

DPDT. This ca n be defined a s two
independent SPDT switches. T his ca n
connect the four circuits by cha nging the
po sitio n.

3 Position Rotary
or Multi Switch

This switch is opera ted by rotatio n. This ha s

3 positions. Often used in fa n control, citizen
band ra dio and tuning.

5 Position Rotary
or Multi Switch

This switch is opera ted by rotatio n. This ha s

5 positions.

Disconnect Switch

A disco nnecting switch is an air switch used

fo r changing co nnections in a circuit or
system, or for iso lating purposes. It is
intended to be operated only after the circuit
has been opened by some other means.

Jumper

Close connection by jumper insertion on pins.

T his represents the rela y switch. This can
contro l the AC Lo ads using the DC vo ltage
applied to the coil.

Relay Switch

Solder Bridge

Solder to close connection

AC Supply

This represents AC supply in the circuit.

DC Supply

This represents the DC power supply. It

applies DC supply to the circuit.

Co nstant Current
So urce

Current so urce is used to deliver or a bsorb

electric current. The sy mbo l represents a n
independent current source which deliv ers
co nstant current.

Contro lled current

source

It is a dependent current so urce. Usua lly

depends on other so urces (vo ltage o r
current).
It is a dependent volta ge source. U sually
depends on other so urces (vo ltage o r
current).

Contro lled
Vo ltage Source

Single Cell Battery

This provides supply to the circuit.

Co mbinatio n o f multiple single cell batteries
o r a single la rge cell battery. T he volta ge is
usually higher.

Multi Cell Battery

WAVE GENERATORS
Sinuso ida l
Generator

Represents sine wave generator.

Pulse Generator

Represents pulse or square wave generator

Represents triangular wave generator

Triangular Wave
GROUND
Ground

It is equiv alent to theo retical 0V a nd is used

as zero po tentia l reference. It is the potential
of perfectly conducting earth.

Signal Ground

It is a reference point from which the signal is

mea sured. T here ma y be severa l signal
gro unds in a circuit due to the volta ge dro ps
in a circuit.
Connected to the cha ssis o f the circuit. It is
the frame o r box in which the circuit is built.
I t acts as a barrier between user and the
circuit a nd prevents electric sho ck.

Chassis Ground

RESISTOR
It is a pa ssiv e two -terminal electrical
co mpo nent that implements electrica l
resista nce as a circuit element.

RESISTOR

Fixed Resistor

It is a device that o pposes the flow of

currentin a circuit. These two symbo ls are
used torepresent fixed resisto r.

Potentiometer

It is a three terminal varia ble resistor

whichacts as an adjustable volta ge div ider. It
is usedin po wer supplies that produce
vary ing DC volta ges like v olum e co ntrols or
jo ysticks.

Rheostat

I t is a two termina l va riable resistor. They

aregenera lly used to co ntrol the current in
thecircuit. Generally used in tuning circuits
a nd power contro l applica tio ns like hea ters,
o vens ,etc
It is a mini va riable resistor. It is a lso
calledTrimmer Resisto r or Trim Po t. The
resista nceis adjusted with ro tary control
present o n to po f it with the help of a screw
driver. They areused to a djust the sensitivity
o f the circuit liketemperature or light.

Preset

Thermistor

It is a tempera ture sensitive resisto r. T hey

a reused in temperature sensing, current
limitingcircuits, o ver-current protectio n
circuits etc.

Varistor

It is a Vo ltage Dependent Resistor. It has

no nlinea rcurrent-voltage
cha racteristics.Generally used in circuit
pro tection fro m vo lta ge surges a nd excessiv e
transient vo lta ges.

Magneto Resistor/
M agneto
Dependent
Resisto r

T he resista nce o f ma gneto resisto r va ries

acco rding to the external magnetic field
strength. They are used in electro nic
co mpa ss, ferro us ma terial detection, position
sensors etc.

Photo
Resistor/Light
Dependent
Resisto r

The resista nce of LDR varies with the

intensity o f the light incident on it. They are
generally used in light sensing a pplicatio ns.

Heating Element

The heating element inside ev ery electric

heater is an electrical resistor, and works o n
the principle o f Joule hea ting: a n electric
current passing thro ugh a resistor will
co nv ert tha t electrica l energy into hea t
energy.
A wire-wo und ty pe fixed resisto r with one o r
more termina ls alo ng its length. Genera lly
used in v oltage divider a pplicatio ns.

Tapped resistor

Attenuator

It is a dev ice used to lo wer the power of a

signal. They are made from simple v oltage
dividers and hence can be classified in the
fa mily o f the resistors.

Memristor

It is a device derived from the wo rd memory

resistor. The resistance of memristor is
varied according to the direction o f flow of
charge. I ts ca n be used in signa l pro cessing,
lo gic, no n-v ola tile memory etc.
CAPACITOR
Ca pa citor is used to store electric cha rge. It
acts a s short circuit with AC a nd open circuit
with DC.

Capacitor

N on-pola rized capacitors a re big in size with

sma ll ca pa cita nce. T hey ca n be used in both
AC and DC circuits.

Non Po larized
Capacitor

Polarized ca pa citors are small in size but

ha ve high ca pa citance. They are used in DC
circuits. They ca n be used as filters, for
by pa ssing or passing low frequency signals.

Pola rized
Capacitor

Electrolytic
Capacitor

Almo st all electrolytic ca pa citors are

po larized and hence used in DC circuits.

Feed through
Capacitor

T hey provide lo w impedance path to ground

for high frequency signa ls.
It is used when a higher to lerance is
necessa ry than polyester capacitors o ffer.
Po lypro pylene film is used for the dielectric

Poly propylene
Capacito rs

Electric Double
Layer Ca pa cito rs
(Super
Capacitors)

It is a high-ca pa city electro chemical

capacitor with capacitance values much
higher than o ther capacitors (but lo wer
v oltage limits) that bridge the ga p between
electroly tic capacitors a nd rechargeable
batteries

Meta llized
Po lyester Film
Capacito rs

T his ca pa cito r uses thin polyester film as the

dielectric.
They are no t high to lera nce, but they are
cheap a nd handy.
It is a miniature a djusta ble electrical
component. It can be varia ble resisto rs
(po tentio meters), varia ble capacitors, or
trimma ble inducto rs.

Trimmer Capacitor

The ca pa cita nce o f the v ariable capacitor ca n

be a djusted by turning the knob. T hey a re
widely used to a djust the frequency , that is
for tuning.

Variable Capacitor
INDUCTORS
Inductor

Inducto r stores the charge in the form o f

magnetic field. This contains a co nductor
wound in the fo rm of a coil.

Iron Core Inductor

T hese a re used as substitutes to ferrite co re

inducto rs. Ferrite co re or Ferro magnetic
inducto rs ha ve high permeability and require
air gap to reduce it. Iron powdered core
inducto rs ha ve this air ga p integrated.
Core materia l, in this type of inducto rs is
made o f ferrite materia l. T hese a re mo stly
used to suppress the interference of
electro magnetic wav es.

Ferrite C ore
Inductors

Taps are sometimes used o n inductors for the

coupling of signals, and may not necessa rily
be a t the ha lf-wa y point, but ra ther, closer to
o ne end.

Center Tapped
Inductors

Mo va ble ferrite magnetic core va ria ble

inductors a re most co mmon. T he inducta nce
is varied by sliding the co re in or out of the
coil.

Variable Inductors
DIODES
Diodes

A semiconducto r device with two termina ls,

ty pically allo wing the flow o f current in o ne
direction only.

Pn Junction Diode

A P N junctio n diode allows the current to flow

only in forward bia s condition.

Zener Diode

Zener Diode is a form of semico nducto r

diode in which a t a critica l reverse v oltage a
la rge reverse current ca n flow.

Varactor Diode

The capacitance o f this diode v aries

according to the applied input v oltage. This is
used in frequency contro lled oscillato rs ,
frequency multipliers etc.

Photodiode

Pho todiode detects the light energy and

conv erts it into current o r volta ge by a
mecha nism ca lled photoelectric effect. T hese
are used in CD players , Ca mera s etc.

Led

Light emitting dio de is similar to PN junction

diode but they emit energy in the fo rm of
light instea d of heat. These are mostly used
in indica tion , lightening applica tions.
It has lo w fo rwa rd voltage drop a nd it ca n
switch rapidly. Used in vo ltage cla mping,
rectifiers, reverse current a nd discha rge
protectio n.

Schottky Diode

It is a device tha t contro ls electric current

between electro des in a n eva cua ted
container. This type is ca lled a thermio nic
tube o r thermionic valv e.

Va cuum tube /
Electron tube

T his is a four layer diode. T his had fast

switching operatio n a nd hence is used in
switching a pplications.

Shockley Diode

Tunnel Diode

T his is a lso known as Esaki dio de.It can

switch very fastly a nd ca n perform well in
micro wav e frequency range. T his is used in
oscillator circuits and micro wav e circuits.

Thyristor

It co nsists of four layers of alternating P a nd

N materia ls. T hey act as bista ble switches
a nd a re used in circuits where high vo lta ges
and currents are invo lved.

Co nstant Current
Dio de

Also ca lled as Current Limiting Dio de or

Current Regula ting Dio de. It limits the current
to a specified ma ximum value.

IC / Chip

T he device made of interco nnected

electro nic co mpo nents, such as transisto rs
a nd resistors, that a re etched o r imprinted
onto a tiny slice o f a semico nducting
material, such as silicon o r germanium. An
integra ted circuit smaller tha n a fingernail
can ho ld millions of circuits. Also ca lled chip,
microchip.
The laser dio de is similar to light emitting
dio de. T he active region is formed in intrinsic
region in PI N structure. La ser diodes find its
a pplicatio ns in laser printing, la ser scanning
etc.

Laser Dio de

TRANSISTOR
N PN (not pointing
in)

It is switched ON when the base-em itter

junction is fo rward bia sed. They are
co mmonly used fo r amplifying and switching
a pplications.

PNP (pointing in
(proudly /permane
ntly))

It is switched ON when the base-em itter

junction is rev erse biased. These are used for
a mplify ing a nd switching a pplications.

JFET ( junction
ga te field-effect
tra nsistor)

Junction field effect tra nsistor is a unipolar

device and is voltage contro lled device. The
gate junction is reverse biased for its
opera tion.It is used as buffer amplifier,
analo g switch, oscilla to rs etc.

N- Channel JFET

N-cha nnel JFET is ma de by n-type silico n bars

which fo rm two PN junctions at the side.
Ma jority cha rge carriers here are electrons.

P-Channel JFET

P-Cha nnel JFET is made by p-type silicon bar

which fo rms two PN junctions at the side.
Ma jority charge ca rriers here a re holes.

MOSFET

MOSFET is similar to JFET but it is operated in

enhancement mode also that is, it increases
the width of depletion la yer. This can be
opera ted in bo th enhancement a nd depletion
mode.

Enhancement
M OSFET

The enhancement mo de MOSF ET ha s

po sitive gate operatio n. It induces negative
cha rges into the n-cha nnel and thus number
of negative cha rges increa ses, enhancing the
channel conductivity.

Depletion
M OSFET

T he depletion mode ha s nega tive ga te

opera tion. This decrea ses the width of the
depletion la yer.

Phototransistor

The pho to tra nsisto r converts the light

energy fa lling on it to its correspo nding
electrical energy. This can be used in light
sensing plica tions. Ba se is left disconnected
as lightis used to ena ble the flow of current.

Photo Darlington

P ho to Darlington Tra nsistor is similar to

photo tra nsistor with very high ga in and
sensitiv ity.

Darlington
Transisto r

This is a co nfiguratio n o f pa ir of transistors,

which pro duces high current ga in. They are
used in po wer regulators, output sta ges of
audio amplifiers, display driv ers etc.
LOGIC GATES

And Gate

This is the basic gate and it implements

logical co njunction. The o utput o f the AN D
gate is high, only if both the inputs a re high
o therwise bo th a re lo w.

Or Gate

T he OR gate implements lo gica l

disjunctio n. The o utput is high if any o ne of
the inputs is high.

Nand Gate

It is co mplement of AND gate. The o utput is

low o nly when both the inputs are high,
otherwise it is high. Any Bo olean functio n ca n
be implemented using combina tion of NAN D
ga tes.
NOR ga te is a not OR gate. Output o f this
ga te is high, if both the inputs a re Low,
o therwise it is High.
Inv erter o r NOT ga te implements lo gical
negation. T his gate inverts the input.

Nor Gate
Not Gate
Exor

T his gate implements exclusive OR logic. The

o utput o f this gate is high ,if bo th the inputs
are different.

Exnor

This ga te implements negation of EXOR lo gic.

T he output of this ga te is high , only if the
two inputs are identical.

Buffer

It is a n a udio signaling dev ice. Generally

used in a larms, timers and for confirmation
messages.

Tri-State Buffer

Similar to a norma l buffer but with a control

signal. In case of activ e high buffer, it
o perates norma lly only when co ntrol signa l is
1. In ca se o f a ctive low buffer, it opera tes
no rmally only when contro l signal is 0.

Demultiplexer

Connects selected output to the input line.

Multiplexer

Connects the output to selected input line.

D Flip flop is the a lso a mem ory element but
this is a synchronous device. The figure
below shows the basic D-flip-flo p.

D Flip Flop
AMPLIFIERS

Basic Amplifier

An a mplifier is a dev ice that a mplifies a

rela tively small input signal i.e. it increases
the power of the signal. They are used in
co mmunication systems, audio devices etc.

Operational
Amplifier

Operational Amplifier (Op Amp) is a vo lta ge

amplifier with very high ga in. The input is
differential. They are used in instrumentation
devices, signal processing, contro l systems
etc.
ANTENNA
It co nverts electrica l po wer into ra dio wav es.
It is used in wireless com munication to
transmit or receive the signals.

Antenna

Lo op antenna is named a fter its loop like

sha pe of wire o r other electrical conducto r.
They are used a s receiving a ntennas in low
frequency range.

Loop Antenna

It is mo st widely used antenna. They consist

of two bilatera lly symmetrica l conductive
elements. Generally used in set-top TV,
sho rtwa ve transmission a nd FM receiv ers.

Dipole Antenna

TRANSFORMER

Transformer

Transformer is the basic element tha t

tra nsfers energy in one circuit to the other
circuit through electromagnetic inductio n.
T hey a re genera lly used in electric power
applica tions to increase or decrea se the
volta ge of AC current.

Iron Core

Uses a piece of ma gnetic ma terial as co re.

Generally Ferro ma gnetic metals like iro n are
used. T he core ha s high permeability a nd is
used to co nfine the ma gnetic field.

Center Tapped

The center tapped transformer is simila r to a

no rmal tra nsfo rm er ex cept that it ha s its
seconda ry winding div ided into two pa rts
with sa me number of turns in each part. This
results in two individual output voltages
across two line ends. U sed in rectifier
circuits.
The no. of turns in seconda ry winding is more
than tha t of primary winding. T he output
voltage is higher tha n input v oltage.
Significa ntly used in inverters.

Step Up
Transformer

It is an electrical tra nsfo rmer with only o ne

winding. T he "a uto" (Greek for "self") prefix
refers to the single coil a cting alo ne and no t
to a ny kind o f auto matic mecha nism.

Auto Transformer

T he no . o f turns in seco ndary winding is less

than tha t of primary winding. T he output
volta ge is lesser than input vo lta ge. I t is
widely used in low power applica tio ns.

Step Down
Transformer
MISCELLANEOUS

This is sound pro ducing dev ice. T his

produces buzz sound when the volta ge is
applied.

Buzzer

This is also an a udio dev ice. The electrical

signal is co nv erted into sound signa l here.

Loud Speaker

The sy mbo l represents the light bulb. The

bulb glows when required v oltage is applied.

Light Bulb

Motor

T his converts the electric energy to

mecha nical energy.

Fuse

Symbol represents the fuse that protects the

circuit from o ver current.

Microphone

It converts sound signals to electrical signals.

Used to generate clock signa l of very precise
frequency.

Crystal Oscillator
Analo g-to-digital
co nverter(ADC)

Ana log to Digita l converter is used convert

analo g signa ls (usually v oltage) to digital
va lues.

Digital-to-Analo g
co nv erter(DAC)

Digita l to Analo g co nv erter is used to co nv ert

digital code to analo g signa ls.

Thermocouple

It is used to measure temperature.

Optocouples/Opto
-isola to r

Optocoupler isolates connection to other board

Electric bell

Rings when activated

Annunciator

A bell, light, o r other dev ice that provides

info rma tion on the state or co ndition of
something by indicating which of several
electrica l circuits has been a ctivated.
Opera tes with hysteresis to
reduce no ise.

Schmitt Trigger
POWER SUPPLY
Voltage Source

It is a two termina l device which can

ma intain a fixed volta ge.

Current Source

I t is an electro nic circuit tha t delivers o r

a bsorbs an electric current which is
independent o f the v oltage across it and it is
the dual o f a v oltage so urce.
It is a block represents a n idea l vo ltage
source that ma intains sinusoidal vo ltage
a cross its output termina ls, independent of
the current flo wing through the so urce.

AC Voltage Source

An element in a n abstra ct circuit pro viding a

so urce of electricity

Generator

Battery

It is supply ing electric po wer, its positive

terminal is the ca tho de and its nega tiv e
terminal is the anode.

Battery Cell

Electro chemical cells that tra nsform chemical

energy into electricity

Contro lled
Volta ge
So urce

It a block represents an idea l vo lta ge source

that is powerful enough to maintain the
specified vo ltage a t its output rega rdless of
the current flo wing through the so urce.

Contro lled
Current
So urce

Generates current as a functio n

of vo lta ge o r current of o ther
circuit element.
METER
M easures vo ltage. Has v ery high resista nce.
Connected in para llel.

Voltmeter

Ammeter

Measures electric current. Ha s near zero

resistance. Connected serially.

Ohmmeter

It is a n electrica l instrument tha t mea sures

electrica l resista nce, the o pposition to an
electric current.
Measures electric po wer

Wattmeter

A frequency meter is an instrument tha t

display s the frequency o f a periodic electrical
signa l.

Frequency Meter

is aclockthat is powered by electricity, as

oppo sed to a mechanicalc lockwhich is
powered by a ha nging weight or a
mainspring.

Electric Clock

OUTLETS
An electrica l outlet that serv es to
acco mmodate the direct connectio n o f a
lighting fixture or o f a la mp ho lder and its
penda nt co rd.

Light outlet

The wa terpro of outlet symbol refers to a n

outlet tha t is loca ted outdoo rs and is
required to hav e a cov er o ver the outlet tha t
will ma ke it wa terproo f.

Waterproof Outlet

Two electrica l receptacles ho used in the

same outlet box.

Duplex outlet
OVERLOAD RELAY

Thermal Ov erloa d
Rela y

It is a small electromecha nica l device tha t

protects moto rs from overhea ting. T hese
rela ys help to co ntrol the electrica l current
that goes to the mo tor to prev ent it fro m
o verhea ting.

Magnetic
Ov erloa d Relay

A ma gnetic starter is an electromagnetically

opera ted switch which provides a safe
method for starting a n electric mo tor with a
la rge load. Magnetic sta rters a lso pro vide
under-vo lta ge a nd ov erloa d protectio n and
an automa tic cutoff in the event o f a power
fa ilure.
DC/AC MOTOR

Armature

Shunt Field

An armature generally refers to one o f the

two principal electrical co mpo nents o f a n
electromechanical or electrical ma chine
genera lly in a moto r or genera tor but it
may also mea n the pole piece of a
permanent magnet or electroma gnet, or the
moving iro n pa rt of a so lenoid or relay.
A shunt genera tor is a type o f direct current
electric generator in which field winding and
a rma ture winding a re connected in pa rallel,
a nd in which the a rma ture supplies both the
lo ad current and the field current.

Wound Rotor

A wound-ro to r moto r is a ty pe of inductio n

mo to r where the ro to r windings a re
connected through slip rings to external
resista nces. Adjusting the resista nce a llo ws
contro l of the speed/to rque characteristic o f
the motor.

Single Phase Rotor

A single phase a c supply is given to the

sta tor o f single pha se inductio n motor. Rotor:
The ro tor is a rotating pa rt of inductio n
motor.

3-Phase Squirrel
Ca ge Rotor

A squirrel-cage ro tor is the ro ta ting part

(rotor) used in the most co mmon fo rm of AC
induction motor. It co nsist of a sta tionary a nd
a ro tating parts.

Circuit Breaker

Itis a n automatica lly opera ted electrica l

switch designed to protect an
electrica lcirc uitfrom da mage ca used by
ov ercurrent or o verlo ad o r shortc ircuit. Its
ba sic function is to interrupt current flo w
after pro tective relay s detect a fa ult.