Learning Electronics & Circuits: A Newbie's Guide

[acemv]

Hi guys, I’m interested in learning about electronics and circuitry. I was a CS major but now I’m majoring in CIS. Ever since i was 7, i always open every electronic gadget my parents bought, which i proceeded to look through and "mess around". Most of the time, I didn't ruin the product, but sometimes I messed things up and piss off my parents :-(. I don't want to pursue an EE degree, but recently I’ve chosen this as a hobby that I’ll like to enter. I just finish my sophomore year in college and now its summer. I don't have anythign else to do with my free time. I work part-time now and i have a lot of extra cash that I’m ready to spend on devices, books, and tools that i would need to begin my adventure into this field. Before i register for an introductory electronics class at my university, i would greatly appreciate any tips and general info that you guys believe a newbie might need to know. Suggestions on introductory books to intermediate level books are greatly appreciated too. My whole goal in this is to some day make my own 2 way radio controlled robot.

 

[sheldon]

Hi acemv, first off, where are you at with your education in electronics? Like for instance, do you know the resistor color code, ohms law, etc?

 

[acemv]

Originally posted by sheldon
Hi acemv, first off, where are you at with your education in electronics? Like for instance, do you know the resistor color code, ohms law, etc?

I did receive a some what basic education on electricity in high school, but it was a class in the 9th grade. I forget most, if not all of the items I was taught.

 

[sheldon]

hmmm Bad Beer Rots Our Young Guts But Vodka Goes Well
black brown red orange yellow green blue violet grey white
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
so let's say you have a resistor with the first band orange so it equals 3 then the second band is black so it is 0 then the third band is the multiplier and its color is red you would have a 3000 ohm resistor. 3 orange 0 black and red two zeros 3K.

next is to understand how resistors relate to electricity. You probably already know they restrict the flow of electrons like a water sink valve that is half way on, only so much water can flow.

here is a simple way to look at it all. If you have a bucket that is half filled with water and a tap on the bottom. The level of the water is your voltage the tap is your resistor and the speed of the water coming out of the tap is your current. When you change these they change each other. ohms law is V divided by I=R where V is voltage and I is current and R is resistance. So IxR=V and V/R=I. let's do one, you have a circuit that has 10 volts and a 100 ohm resistor what is the current?