Every single device you can think of that uses electricity contains at least one of the primary electronic parts. A plug is used to connect an electrical appliance to a wall outlet, and a switch controls the flow of electricity to the appliance. Fuses are sometimes included. Yet, when we say “main components,” we’re referring to the resistor, inductor, and capacitor.
In order to proceed, we must first acquire a thorough familiarity with these parts and an appreciation for how they operate. Each of these three components serves a distinct purpose, and it is implied by their respective names that they do so in isolation from the other two.
There is no magic number of components required to make up an electric circuit; just one or more devices and some wires will do. A breakdown into this composite of constituent parts is possible, however.
These three components are essential, but they are not required for every device. A light bulb, for instance, only has a filament, which is a resistor.
However, a coil can be thought of whenever there is a wire winding (as in a motor or an electromagnet). The two components of a coil are the resistor and the inductor.
However, a capacitor can be used to store electricity until it is needed. Several sizes are possible. Capacitors are used in numerous electronic devices, including fluorescent lights and camera flashes. To name just one example, motor circuits are just one of many circuits and devices where capacitors are used.
A coil is any wire that has been spirally wound to create a helix; typically, there is a core inside to increase the inductance.
The resistor, inductor, and capacitor are the three fundamental building blocks of electricity.
Resistor
A resistor or a purely resistive device consumes electric power and converts it into heat.
The filaments in all electric lightbulbs, the elements in electric kettles, heaters, irons, and stoves, and the elements in any other device that uses electricity to generate heat are all examples of resistors.
It’s important to remember that an incandescent light bulb isn’t designed to generate heat like a heater does, but rather light. The filament is heated to a very high temperature in this process, however, and the result is visible light. In this way, the bulb heats up and can be used in the same way as a conventional electric heating element.
A resistor is (a) a passive electric component (having no other reaction to the flow of electricity) that acts as a barrier to the flow of electrons through it. To (b) absorb electrical energy in electrical and electronic circuits, any of the standard components, made in a variety of physical sizes.
A resistor is an electrical component that slows the flow of electricity. Electrons lose energy as they move through such a substance. The element experiences heat as a result of this incoming energy.
Resistance: (in electricity) (in electricity) (a) The ability to limit the flow of electric current and absorb its energy by doing so. Ohms () are the unit of resistance measurement. b) One of the three building blocks from which any electric load (a device drawing power from an electrical source) is assumed to be constructed.
Lightbulb filaments and heater elements are both made of wire, and the wire is typically tungsten or a tungsten alloy. Such an element’s primary function is to transform electrical energy into thermal energy.
However, in many (electronic) circuits, a resistor’s primary role can be something else, such as in radio and television, and in the process, a resistor gets hot. In such a scenario, cooling is required to get rid of the heat.
A wire-wound resistor, as shown in Figure 1. Such a resistor can be encased in ceramic for durability and portability.
The second type of resistors (used in electronic circuits) come in a wide range of standard sizes and shapes. Some examples of these resistors, shown in Figure 2, are shown. These resistors are not made of metal and have a different structure than being wound.
To represent a resistor in a circuit, a unique symbol is employed. The resistor symbol is depicted in Figure 3.
Inductor
One way that electricity can be stored is in a device called an inductor, which converts electric current into magnetic field. It’s not like a battery is being used to store energy here. Instead, it’s a short-term storage for intermittently available electricity. In reality, a winding that looks like the one in Figure 4 can perform this function and act as an inductor. In other words, an inductor can be thought of as a coil of wire wound around a base.
The core of an inductor is possible. The center can be a cylinder, a prism, a cube, or a solid block of paper, wood, plastic, or metal.
A ferromagnetic material (like iron and steel or certain special alloys) is required for a metallic core to be useful (other than as a support).
An inductor is a coil of wire whose only magnetic property is its inability to produce an electric current. Pure inductors do not exist in the physical realm, but under certain circumstances, such as when dealing with high-frequency electric signals, the resistance of the coiled wire is largely negligible in comparison to its inductance.
Ferromagnetic: A type of iron family substance that is conducive to magnetization.
An inductor, in principle, does not transform electrical energy into heat, so its only property is storage capacity. That is to say, ideally, there shouldn’t be any impedance to the flow of electricity through a coil of metal. However, in reality, wire is used to construct a coil, and wire acts as a resistor.
The inductor property of a coil is defined by the physical dimensions of the coil (its length, diameter, and the number of turns in the winding), among other things. If the coil’s resistance is low enough, it can be used successfully as an inductor.
The schematics for a coil with and without a (ferromagnetic) core are shown in Figure 5. The inductance of a coil is improved by having a ferromagnetic core. A coil’s actual outline is depicted in Figure 6.
An inductor stores electric energy, but this storage action is on a small scale and with short duration.
Capacitor
A capacitor, like an inductor, stores electrical energy, but it does so in a very different way, one that relies on a different set of physical properties.
Similarly to a battery, a capacitor can store energy in the form of an electric field. It’s important to keep in mind that although inductors and capacitors are sometimes referred to as “storage devices,” their ability to hold electric energy is negligible compared to that of a battery.
Particularly significant is the difference in terms of how many times this energy can be recycled. It’s possible to charge a battery, leave it like that for a long time, and then use the power from that battery for a long period of time, like a month. Neither a capacitor nor an inductor could hold this much information.
For instance, if we use a capacitor in place of a (rechargeable) battery, it will be charged in a matter of seconds (or even microseconds), and we will be able to use it for roughly the same amount of time, provided that the stored energy is not lost through leakage.
Capacitor schematic shown in Figure 7. Polarized capacitors have one terminal that must be permanently connected to the positive side of the circuit and the other terminal to the negative side, while non-polarized capacitors have both terminals connected to the same potential (i.e., it does not matter which side is connected to positive).
A capacitor consists of an insulator and two metallic plates. As can be seen in Figure 8, in practice the two plates and the insulator material in between them are rolled into a cylinder. This creates a smaller and lighter package that can be taken anywhere.
Miniature capacitors don’t always come in the standard cylindrical shape. Numerous capacitors are illustrated in Figure 9.
Any set of electric or electronic parts linked together by wires and able to be powered by another set of parts is called a circuit.
Similar to an inductor, a capacitor can store electrical energy, but it does so in a very different way. There isn’t nearly as much of a storage effect as there is in batteries.