part0007

From the beginning of this chapter, you will find out about the technical terms that electronics have and that at the end of this one, you will most likely manage expertly.

In a broader definition, we can say that electronics is the branch of science that studies the use of circuits formed by electrical and electronic components, with the main objective of representing, storing, transmitting, or processing information beyond the control of processes and servomechanisms.

From this point of view, it can also be said that the internal circuits of the computers, telecommunications systems, the various types of sensors and transducers are all within the area of interest of electronics. It is divided into analog and digital because its work coordinates choose to obey.

These two forms of presentation of the electrical signals to be treated. It is also considered to be a branch of electricity, which, in turn, is a branch of physics where the phenomena of the charges are studied - elementary electrical power, the properties, and the behavior of the electron, photons, elementary particles, electromagnetic waves, etc.

It studies and uses systems whose operation is based on the conduction and control of the flow of electrons or other electrically charged particles. The design and large construction of electronic circuits to solve practical problems are part of electronics and the fields of electronic, electromechanical, and computer engineering in the design of software for their control.

Electronics currently develops a wide variety of tasks. The main uses of electronic circuits are control, processing, distribution of information, conversion, and distribution of electrical energy. These two uses involve the creation or detection of electromagnetic fields and electric currents. Look around the radio, TV, PC, mobile phone, washing machine, all of them have electronics.

Electric voltage, also known as the potential difference (DDP) or voltage, is the difference in electrical potential between two points or the difference in potential electrical energy per electric charge unit between two points. Its unit of measure is the volt or joules by coulomb. The potential difference is equal to the work that must be done per unit of load against an electric field to move any load.

It is a physical quantity that drives electrons along a conductor (for example, a cable) in a closed electrical circuit, causing the flow of an electric current. Its unit is Volt (V). The instrument used to measure the voltage is known as a voltmeter.

A voltmeter can be used to measure the potential difference between two points in a system, and usually, a common reference point is earth. Fields can cause electrical voltage by an electric current under the action of a magnetic field by a variant magnetic field or a combination of the three.

Electric current is the orderly flow of electrically charged particles, or also the displacement of loads within a conductor when there is an electrical potential difference between the ends. The standard unit in the International System of Units for measuring current intensity is ampere. To measure the current, you can use an ammeter. An electric current, since it is electric, this is a phenomenon that can be used as an electromagnet, being this the principle of operation of a motor.

The instrument used to measure the intensity of the electric current is the galvanometer, which, calibrated in amps, is called an ammeter placed in series with the conductor whose intensity you want to measure.

Direct current, direct current, galvanic current, or direct current (DC) is the orderly flow of electrons in one direction at a time. This type of current is generated by car or motorcycle batteries (6, 12 or 24V), small batteries (usually 9V), batteries (1.2V and 1.5V), dynamos, solar cells and power supplies of various technologies, which rectify the alternating current to produce direct current.

It is the continuous flow of electrons through a conductor between two points of different potential. In the direct current, the electric charges always circulate in the same direction. It is continuing the current still maintains the same polarity. In the systematic American standard, the color black corresponds to the negative and the red to the positive or is symbolized for the positive with VCC, +, VSS, and for the negative with 0V, -, GND.

It has usually used for powering electronic devices (between 1.2 V and 24V) and digital circuits of computer equipment (computers, modems, hubs, etc.). This type of circuit has a negative pole and a positive pole (is polarized), whose intensity is maintained. More correctly, the intensity increases at the beginning to a maximum point, remaining continuous, that is, without changing. When turned off, it decreases to zero and extinguishes.

Many devices need direct current to operate on all those that carry electronics (audiovisual equipment, computers, etc.). For this purpose, power supplies are used. You can find it in the batteries, batteries, output of the computer chargers.

Alternating current (AC) is an electrical current whose direction varies in time, as opposed to the following of the direct current whose direction remains constant over time. The usual waveform in an AC power is sinusoidal for to be the most efficient form of energy transmission. However, in specific applications, different waveforms are used, such as triangular or square waves. While the direct current source consists of the positive and negative poles of an alternating current is composed of phases (and often neutral wire).

It is the electric current in which the magnitude and direction vary cyclically. The most commonly used alternating current waveform is that of a sine wave.

The AC voltage is what reaches the electrical outlets of homes and businesses, and it is very common to find it in the sockets where our appliances are connected. However, audio and radio signals transmitted by electric cables are also examples of alternating current. In these uses, the most important purpose is usually the transmission and retrieval of the information encoded (or modulated) on the AC signal.

Electrical resistance is the capacity of a body to oppose the passage of electric current even when there is a difference of applied potential. It is measured in ohms (Ω).

Resistors are components whose purpose is to offer opposition to the passage of electric current through its material. We call this opposition electrical resistance. They cause a voltage drop in the power supply to a power supply unit may be limited to some part of an electrical circuit, but it will never cause an electric current drop, even though the current is limited.

This means that the electrical current entering one resistor terminal will be exactly the same as that of leaving the other terminal, but there is a voltage drop. Using this, it is possible to use the resistors to control the voltage on the desired components. You can find resistance in electric heaters, electronic cards, stoves are very useful to limit the passage of current.

Ohm's Law states that the current (I) circulating through a given circuit is directly proportional to the applied voltage (V) and inversely proportional to its resistance (R).

The pyramid on the side is very useful to know this formula. For example, cover with one finger the letter V (voltage), then the voltage will be equal to the current (I) times the resistance (R). Or, to calculate the resistance, divide the voltage (V) by the current (I).

An electronic system is a set of circuits that interact with each other to obtain a result. One way of understanding electronic systems is to divide them into inputs, outputs, and signal processing.

Inputs are electronic or mechanical sensors that take signals (in the form of temperature, pressure, humidity, contact, light, motion, pH, etc.) from the physical world and convert them into current or voltage signals. Examples of inputs are gas sensors, temperature sensors, pulsators, photocells, potentiometers, motion sensors, and many more.

Outputs are actuators or other devices that convert current or voltage signals into physically useful signals such as motion, light, sound, force, or rotation, among others. Examples of outputs are motors, LEDs, or light systems that switch on automatically when darkens or a buzzer that generates several tones.

Signal processing is carried out using circuits known as microcontrollers. These are integrated circuits built to manipulate, interpret, and transform voltage and current signals coming from sensors (inputs) and to activate certain actions in the outputs.

As an example, we imagine a TV set. The input is a signal received by an antenna or a cable. The integrated circuits inside the device extract information about brightness, color, and sound from this signal. The devices of output are the LCD screen, which converts the electronic signals into visible images, and the speakers, which emit the sound.

Another example might be a circuit that controls the temperature of an environment. A temperature sensor and an integrated circuit are responsible for converting an input signal to an appropriate voltage level. If the registered ambient temperature is too high, this circuit will send the information to a motor to turn on a fan that will cool the room.

The inputs and outputs of an electronic system will be considered as variable signals. In electronics, we work with variables that are taken in the form of voltage or current, which can simply be called signals. The signals can be of two types: digital or analog.

Also called discrete variables are characterized by having two different states and, therefore, can also be called binary (in logic would be True (V) and False (F) values, or could be 1 or 0 respectively). An example of a digital signal is the bell switch of your house because it has only two states, pulsed and pulseless.

They are those that can take an infinite number of values comprised between two limits. Most real-life phenomena are signals of this type (sound, temperature, brightness, etc.).

An example of an analog electronic system is that of a speaker, who is concerned with amplifying the sound of his voice so that a large audience can hear it. The sound waves that are analog in their origin are captured by a microphone and converted into a small analog voltage variation, called an audio signal.

In electronics, the voltage divider rule is a design technique used to create a voltage (Volt) that is proportional to the other (Vin). In this way, the voltage of a source is distributed among one or more resistors connected in series. On a circuit like this, two resistors are connected in series as in the following diagram:

An analog-to-digital (ADC) converter is an electronic device capable of generating a digital representation from an analog magnitude by converting an analog input at a binary value. It is used in electronic equipment such as computers, sound and video recorders, and telecommunications equipment.

These converters are very useful in the interface between digital devices and analog devices and are used in applications such as sensor reading, audio, video, etc. scanning.

Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) - better known by its acronym in English PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) - of a signal or power supplies involves modulating its duty cycle to carry any information about a communication channel or to control the amount of energy being sent in a load.

For example, if we apply PWM to an LED, we can vary the brightness intensity, and if we use PWM to a DC motor, we can achieve its speed with the characteristic of keeping its strength constant.

It is a digital data communication interface where information is sent one bit at a time, sequentially. It's different from parallel communication, where everyone the bits of each symbol are sent together. The serial interface is used in all long-range communication and most cases, in computer networks.

One of its uses is to monitor the state of a connected peripheral through the computer screen. For example, when pulsing the letter, A on the keyboard should light an LED that is remotely connected to the computer.