ELECTRONIC

COMPONENTS LESSON 4
TYPES OF ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS

1. Active Electronic Components

2. Passive Electronic Components
ACTIVE ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS
-are those that have gain or directionality. Requiring
a source of power to operate.

E.g. transistors, integrated circuits or ICs, logic gates,

TRIACs, SCRs, LEDs, etc.
 PASSIVE ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS
-are those that do not have gain or directionality. Capable
of operating without an external power source. They are
also called Electrical elements or electrical components.
E.g. resistors, capacitors, diodes, Inductors. Again, electronic
components can be in thru-hole of SMD (Surface Mount
Devices or Chips).
 BREADBOARD
A breadboard is a solderless device for
temporary prototype with electronics and
test circuit designs. Most electronic
components in electronic circuits can be
interconnected by inserting their leads or
terminals into the holes and then making
connections through wires where
appropriate.
 RESISTORS
A resistor is a two-terminal passive
electronics component, used to oppose
or limit the current. Resistor works based
on the principle of Ohm’s law which
states that “voltage applied across the
terminals of a resistor is directly
proportional to the current flowing
 CAPACITORS
A capacitor made from two conductive plates with
an insulator between them and it stores electrical
energy in the form of an electric field. A capacitor
blocks the DC signals and allows the AC signals and
also used with a resistor in a timing circuit.
The stored charge is Q=CV
Where
C is the capacitance of a capacitor and
V is the applied voltage.
 TRANSISTORS
A transistor is a three terminal semiconductor device.
Mostly it is used as switching device and also as an
amplifier.
This switching device can be a voltage or current
controlled by controlling the voltage applied to the
one terminal controls the current flow through the
other two terminals.
Transistors are of two types, namely bipolar junction
transistor (BJT) and field effect transistors (FET). And
further these can be PNP and NPN transistors.
 JUMP WIRE
A jump wire is an electrical wire, or
group of them in a cable, with a
connector or pin at each end, which is
normally used to interconnect the
components of a breadboard or other
prototype or test circuit, internally or with
other equipment or components, without
soldering.
 INTEGRATED CIRCUIT
An integrated circuit, or IC, is small chip
that can function as an amplifier, oscillator,
timer, microprocessor, or even computer
memory. An IC is a small wafer, usually
made of silicon, that can hold anywhere
from hundreds to millions of transistors,
resistors, and capacitors.
 DIODE
A diode is a two-terminal
electronic component that
conducts current primarily in one
direction; it has low resistance in
one direction, and high
resistance in the other.
 LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE (LED)
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor light
source that emits light when current flows through it.
Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron
holes, releasing energy in the form of photons.
This effect is called electroluminescence. The color of the
light (corresponding to the energy of the photons) is
determined by the energy required for electrons to cross
the band gap of the semiconductor.
White light is obtained by using multiple semiconductors or
a layer of light-emitting phosphor on the semiconductor
device.
 PUSH-BUTTON SWITCH
The momentary push-button switch is a type
of biased switch. ... A "push-to-break" (or
normally-closed or NC) switch, on the other
hand, breaks contact when the button is
pressed and makes contact when it is
released. An example of a push-to-break
switch is a button used to release a door
held closed by an electromagnet.
 POTENTIOMETER

A potentiometer is a three-terminal
resistor with a sliding or rotating
contact that forms an adjustable
voltage divider. If only two terminals
are used, one end and the wiper, it
acts as a variable resistor or
rheostat.
 RELAY
A relay is an electromagnetic switch that can open and
close circuits electromechanically or electronically. You
need a relatively small current to operate a relay. Usually,
they are used to regulate low currents in a control circuit.
However, you can also use relays to control high electric
currents. A relay is the electrical equivalent of a lever. You
can switch it on with a small current to turn on (or
leverage) another circuit using large current. Relays are
either electromechanical relays or solid-state relays.
 LCD:
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is a flat
display technology, which is mostly
used in applications like computer
monitors, cell phone display,
calculators, etc. This technology uses
two polarized filters and electrodes
for selectively disable or enable the
light to pass from reflective backing to
the eyes of the viewer.
 PHOTORESISTOR
•A photoresistor is a light-controlled variable
resistor. The resistance of a photoresistor
decreases with increasing incident light
intensity; in other words, it exhibits
photoconductivity. A photoresistor can be
applied in light-sensitive detector circuits, and
light-activated and dark-activated switching
circuits.
 BUZZER OR BEEPER

A buzzer or beeper is an audio signaling

device, which may be mechanical,
electromechanical, or piezoelectric (piezo for
short). Typical uses of buzzers and beepers
include alarm devices, timers, and
confirmation of user input such as a mouse
 HC-SR04 ULTRASONIC SENSOR

The HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor uses sonar to

determine distance to an object like bats
do. It offers excellent non-contact range
detection with high accuracy and stable
readings in an easy-to-use package. It
comes complete with ultrasonic transmitter
and receiver modules.
DC MOTOR
A DC motor is any of a class of rotary
electrical machines that converts direct current
electrical energy into mechanical energy. The
most common types rely on the forces produced
by magnetic fields. Nearly all types of DC
motors have some internal mechanism, either
electromechanical or electronic, to periodically
change the direction of current flow in part of
the motor.
 STEPPER MOTOR

A stepper motor, also known as step

motor or stepping motor, is a
brushless DC electric motor that
divides a full rotation into a number
of equal steps.
 SERVO MOTOR
A servomotor is a rotary actuator or
linear actuator that allows for precise
control of angular or linear position,
velocity and acceleration. It consists of
a suitable motor coupled to a sensor
for position feedback.
ELECTRICAL WIRE

•a slender, string like piece or filament of

relatively rigid or flexible metal, usually
circular in section, manufactured in a great
variety of diameters and metals depending
on its application.
WIRE GUAGE
ELECTRICAL CABLE
• An electrical cable is an assembly of one or more wires running
side by side or bundled, which is used to carry electric current.
•A cable assembly is the composition of one or more electrical
cables and their corresponding connectors. A cable assembly is not
necessarily suitable for connecting two devices but can be a
partial product (e.g. to be soldered onto a printed circuit board
with a connector mounted to the housing). Cable assemblies can
also take the form of a cable tree or cable harness, used to
connect many terminals together.
ELECTRICAL CABLE DIAGRAM