- Amps/ Ampere
Unit of electrical current. Named after Andre Marie Ampere. I=V/R
- Circuit
Closed network/ pathway for an electrical current.
- Capacitor
An electrical component that can store electrical charge.
- Coulomb
Quantity of electricity flowing. The amount of current in a circuit depends on the amount of voltage available to motivate the electrons, and also the amount of resistance in the circuit to oppose electron flow.
- Current
The continuous movement of electrons through a closed circuit. Flow of electrons -- one analogy is like water through a pipe. Measured in Amps or Amperes. Current equals voltage divided by resistance. In other words, "the amount of current in a circuit depends on the amount of voltage available to motivate the electrons, and also the amount of resistance in the circuit to oppose electron flow."
- Diode
Semi conductor with two terminals that channels current in one direction only.
- Electrons
Sub atomic particle responsible for the flow of electricity.
- Farad
Unit of capacitance.
- Ground
Return path for the electrical current, or an actual physical connection to the earth.
- Integrated circuit
Chip or microchip. Has thousands of resistors, capacitors and transistors to function as a counter, timer, amplifier, oscillator, microprocessor, etc.
- LED
Light emitting diode
- Motor
PWM controls the gears in a simple servo motor to get movement.
- Ohms
Electrical resistance between two points. R=V/I
- Ohms Law
Ohm's law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the potential difference across the two points. Introducing the constant of proportionality, the resistance, one arrives at the usual mathematical equation that describes this relationship: I=V/R
- Parallel
Parallel circuits are circuits where there are multiple paths for electrons to flow. Components are all connected to the same voltage and ground. Parallel circuits differ from series circuits, where there is only one path for electrons to flow.
- Piezoelectricity
Pressure on components that creates polarity. Often used to create sound in electronics.
- Polarity
Speaks to the positive and negative poles in electricity. The electrical flow notation shows that electrons flow from the negative end to the positive end of a battery.
- Potentiometer
A variable resistor - has three terminals; the third terminal allows for the adjustment/ degree of resistance.
- Power
Determined by watts. The amount of electrical work done over time.
- Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
"Pulse Width Modulation, or PWM, is a technique for getting analog results with digital means. Digital control is used to create a square wave, a signal switched between on and off. This on-off pattern can simulate voltages in between full on (5 Volts) and off (0 Volts) by changing the portion of the time the signal spends on versus the time that the signal spends off. The duration of "on time" is called the pulse width. To get varying analog values, you change, or modulate, that pulse width. If you repeat this on-off pattern fast enough with an LED for example, the result is as if the signal is a steady voltage between 0 and 5v controlling the brightness of the LED" See more at Pulse Width Modulation
- Relays
Electrically operated switch, through an electromagnet.
- Resistance
Friction. Opposition to motion
- Resistor
Circuit element that reduces current flow.
- Series
Series circuits have only one path for electrons in the whole circuit. They are simpler than parallel circuits, which offer more than one pathway.
- Shift register
Wikipedia: In digital circuits, a shift register is a cascade of flip flops, sharing the same clock, in which the output of each flip-flop is connected to the "data" input of the next flip-flop in the chain, resulting in a circuit that shifts by one position the "bit array" stored in it, shifting in the data present at its input and shifting out the last bit in the array, at each transition of the clock input.
More generally, a shift register may be multidimensional, such that its "data in" and stage outputs are themselves bit arrays: this is implemented simply by running several shift registers of the same bit-length in parallel.
- Switch
Switches break open a circuit or divert electrical flow to another pathway.
- Solenoid
A coil of wire that, when current is flowing through it, becomes magnetized.
- Transistor
Transistors are semi conductors that amplify and switch current. It has at least three terminals; the third terminal connects to an external circuit.
- Voltage
The force pushing electrons to move in a circuit. Voltage is the measure of potential energy and it must always be measured between two points. We measure voltage in Volts. Voltage equals current multiplied by resistance.
