Fundamentals of Electronics I: What is Electricity?
To understand a subject fully, it is best to break it down to its fundamental elements, start as close to the beginning as possible. This helps us to gain a broad perspective, then build more complicated concepts on top of those previously explained. So expect at least some of this to be review. That being said, this series of articles is presented in a way that may seem roundabout to some, but is meant to assist a student with a deeper understanding of concepts related to Electronics. As such it will avoid derivations of relations, presenting equations, or manipulating figures. In other words, to actually do anything with electronics you should have other resources. I have simply provided an outline, riddled with analogies and anecdotes on subjects I have trouble with myself in the past.
Breaking it Down
Electronics, when broken down, is first of all a study of Chemistry, then Physics. This intro will start with the most fundamental of electronic concepts. What is electricity, and how do I get some? The reason for this is simple: one cannot build electronics without electric power, or obtain electric power without knowing what it is.
Electricity, simply put, is the movement of electrons between atoms in a conductor.
Atom: Fundamental building blocks of matter; made of protons, neutrons, and electrons.
Protons are said to have a "positive charge, +" and Electrons are said to have a "negative charge, -". The charge from a single electron is equal to that of a single proton. Charge is simply our convention for an observed property of matter. Matter with opposite electric charge attract, while like charges repel. This property exerts electromagnetic Force. For that reason, Atoms tend to attract electrons equal to the amount of protons in its nucleus. One may ask why the nucleus does not explode due to electromagnetic force of protons acting on one another. That is because there is another much stronger force at work, "strong nuclear force", keeping the nucleus together.
Charge: A property of matter that results in an electromagnetic force between electrons and protons.
The difference in mass between an electron and a proton is very large. A proton has about 1836 times the mass of an electron. That means that an imposed electrical force will have more of an effect on electrons than it does on protons, and they would be more likely to move freely. Due to other properties of the universe besides electric charge, not all electrons do move freely. In fact, many elements or compounds have almost no electrons that move freely throughout. Those that have many free electrons are called conductors, and they are used to facilitate the movement of electrons in an electric circuit. Some common conductors are copper, iron, and water with ions in solution.
Conductor: An element or compound with unbound electrons that can be effectively acted on by electromagnetic force.
So now we have a working definition. Again:
Electricity, simply put, is the movement of electrons between atoms in a conductor.
So we now have half of what we need. Now, on to the second part of our quest; how do we make electricity for ourselves?
Soon, we will show a breakdown of a basic battery, a solar panel, then a coil-magnet generator.
First we need to go over some conventions of electricity.
Next lesson: What is voltage?
Breaking it Down
Electronics, when broken down, is first of all a study of Chemistry, then Physics. This intro will start with the most fundamental of electronic concepts. What is electricity, and how do I get some? The reason for this is simple: one cannot build electronics without electric power, or obtain electric power without knowing what it is.
Electricity, simply put, is the movement of electrons between atoms in a conductor.
This leaves us with unexplained terms. The first of which to start with is the Atom. It is the fundamental building block of all matter. For our purposes, we will use the Bohr model to explain an atom, which states atoms are made of three types of particles; electrons, neutrons, and protons. Protons and neutrons are in the nucleus(center) and electrons are in a cloud (we may think of them as being in orbit) around them. Atoms are classified into the Periodic Table of Elements based on how many protons they have.
Protons are said to have a "positive charge, +" and Electrons are said to have a "negative charge, -". The charge from a single electron is equal to that of a single proton. Charge is simply our convention for an observed property of matter. Matter with opposite electric charge attract, while like charges repel. This property exerts electromagnetic Force. For that reason, Atoms tend to attract electrons equal to the amount of protons in its nucleus. One may ask why the nucleus does not explode due to electromagnetic force of protons acting on one another. That is because there is another much stronger force at work, "strong nuclear force", keeping the nucleus together.
Charge: A property of matter that results in an electromagnetic force between electrons and protons.
The difference in mass between an electron and a proton is very large. A proton has about 1836 times the mass of an electron. That means that an imposed electrical force will have more of an effect on electrons than it does on protons, and they would be more likely to move freely. Due to other properties of the universe besides electric charge, not all electrons do move freely. In fact, many elements or compounds have almost no electrons that move freely throughout. Those that have many free electrons are called conductors, and they are used to facilitate the movement of electrons in an electric circuit. Some common conductors are copper, iron, and water with ions in solution.
Conductor: An element or compound with unbound electrons that can be effectively acted on by electromagnetic force.
So now we have a working definition. Again:
Electricity, simply put, is the movement of electrons between atoms in a conductor.
So we now have half of what we need. Now, on to the second part of our quest; how do we make electricity for ourselves?
Soon, we will show a breakdown of a basic battery, a solar panel, then a coil-magnet generator.
First we need to go over some conventions of electricity.
Next lesson: What is voltage?
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