Electronic Components, Their look in reality and their Importance

Image of electronic components
A lot of us use Electronic appliances and do not know what is assembled together to make up the appliance. Most science students even know their symbols but cannot identify the components in reality.
Today I'll be throwing more light on these components with images to back them up.

1. Capacitor

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A capacitor is a device that stores electric charge. Apart from storing electric charges, it can also be used for several other purposes like Timing. It can also be used for smoothing I.e converting AC current to DC and It can also be used as a Tuner in radio systems.

The first capacitor was invented by Pieter van Musschenbroek in the year 1746...I know you would say that's a long time right. Yes it is. He invented it at the University of Leyden in Holland.
Image showing several capacitors

We would have noticed some of the physical function of a capacitor without us noticing like in our energy saver lamps at home, When it is turned off, the light slowly fades before it finally goes off. This came to be because the capacitor had been charged and is discharging itself at that moment gradually due to the supply of current been cut off. This is implemented to save the lamps lifespan and keep it from getting damaged ontime.

Types of capacitor

• Film capacitors:

• Electrolytic capacitors

• Power Film capacitors

• Ceramic capacitors

• Variable capacitors

• Class X and Y capacitors

• Hybrid capacitors

1. Diodes

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Diode
A diode is a semiconductor device like silicon or germanium that allows the flow of current at one end only.
Diodes can be used as signal demodulators, rectifiers, voltage regulators, switches, signal limiters, signal mixers, signal modulators and oscillators.

Diode Types

Types of diode

• Zener Diode: This is a type of diode unlike the normal ones that can allow current to flow from its anode to its cathode and vise versa
  

• Constant Current Diodes: Also known as current limiting diode or current relating diode. It helps to limit the current in a device to maximum specified value.
  CCR

• Light Emitting Diode (LED): It is a type of diode that emits light when connected. It can be used as an indicator.
  LED

We see this always but might not take note. The light indicating in our laptop Chargers, phone chargers, sockets, plugs are (LED)

• Schottky Diode: A semi conductor diode used for daddy switching application
  Schottky diode

• Shockley Diode: A four-layer semiconductor diode also known a thyristor.
  Shockley diode

• Step Recovery Diodes: known as snap off diode having the ability to generate extremely short pulses.
  Step recovery diode

1. Resistors

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Resistors as their names imply, resists the flow of electric current in a circuit.
Resistor
Resistors are used to limit current flow in a circuit.
Every home appliance have several of these implemented in them to make it function properly.

Resistor types

Various types of resistors

• Variable Resistor
• Thyristors
• Metal oxide film resistor
• Light dependent resistor / photoresistor
• Varistor

1. Transformers

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Transformer
Transformers are devices used to transform electrical energy from one circuit to another.
A transformer can be used to step up or step down current and can also be used to convert AC current to DC current and vice versa.

Types of transformers

Transformer symbol

• Step-up transformer
• Step-down transformer
• Air Core Transformer
• Iron Core Transformer
• AutoTransformer

1. Integrated Circuit

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An Integrated circuits (IC) which looks like a chip or micro chip is made of semiconductor material having thousand and millions of capacitors, transistors, resistors fabricated into it.
Integrated circuits
An IC can be used as an oscillator, timer, counter, amplifier, computer memory or micro processor.
There are different types of Integrated circuit which are subdivided into digital and analog types depending on the intended application.
IC

1. Printed Circuit Board

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Since we have now seen these components and we've known little about them, we should be aware that these components have to be connected rightly on something before it can work properly. This is known as Printed Circuit Board.
PCB
It is used to connect several electronic components together. This Board is made of materials that does not conduct electricity.

Reference: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5

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