Electrical & Electronics

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Archive for the ‘Basic Electronics’ Category

Posted by chyelim on February 22, 2007

Basic Electronics - Current

Current is what flows through a wire. Think of it as water flowing in a river. The current flows through wires from one point to another point just like water in a river. Current flows from points of high voltage to points of low voltage. Current can be shown in circuit diagrams by using arrows as in Figure 1. The arrow shows which way the current is flowing. An I is included beside the arrow to indicate current.

Figure 1

The unit of measurement for current is the Ampere, or Amp for short, and abbreviated as A. Common currents are 0.001 Amps (0.001A) to 0.5 Amps (0.5A). Since currents are usually small, they are often given in the form of milliAmps (abbreviated mA.) The milli means divided by 1000, so 0.001 Amps equals 1 milliAmp (1 mA) since 1 / 1000 = 0.001. Also, 0.5 Amps equals 500 milliAmps (500mA) since 500 / 1000 = 0.5.

Posted by chyelim on February 22, 2007

Basic Electronics - Voltage (additional explanation)

Posted by chyelim on January 20, 2007

Basic Electronics - Voltage

Posted by chyelim on January 20, 2007

Basic Electronics - What is Charge?