Training Assignment ,

Familarization with Discrete

Components
In the designing of any electronic circuit, three most important

considerations are:

(i) Circuit components like resistors, Capacitors, Transistors and

Diodes.

(ii) Power sources like dc power supplies and signal generators

(iii)

(iv) Measurement and analysis instruments like multimeters and

Cathode Ray Oscilloscope (CRO).

This Unit deals with familiarization of basic components like resistors,

Capacitors and diodes, followed by introduction to a few instruments like
multimetres and CRO.

An electronic circuit is composed of various types of components. Some of

these components are termed as active components because they take part in
the transformation of the energy while other components, which only
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dissipate or store energy, are called as passive elements. The vacuum tubes,
rectifier, transistors are some of-the common active while the resistances,
which dissipate the power and energy storing elements such as capacitances
and inductances are known as passive elements. The success of any
electronic circuit depends not only on proper selection of the active
elements but on the passive and matching elements too. The proper function,
of an active device is decided by the proper values of these passive elements.
Hence the selection of these elements such as resistances, inductances,
capacitance, and transformers not only require the proper attention, but also
decide the proper function of the active devices as well as the circuit as a
whole.

ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS :
These can be classified into

Passive Components : Components like resistance, capacitance

inductance, and fall in this class.

Active Components :
They can be further classified as Semiconductor Devices : Semiconductor
diode, zener diode, and varactor diode etc. Uni-junction transistor, Bipolar
junction transistor (BJT), FET, silicon, Controlled rectifier etc.

The difference between the above two categories is that active components

can generate energy whereas passive components can not generate energy.

In other words active components can increase power of a signal whereas

passive components often cause the power to be lost.

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PASSIVE DEVICES:

RESISTANCES: Resistors can be made to control the flow of current, to

work as Voltage dividers, to dissipate power and it can shape electrical waves

when used in combination of other components. Basic unit is ohms.

RESISTIVE ELEMENTS: A Resistor is a component that resists the

flow of current. It's one of the most basic components used in

electronic circuits. The resistive element may be either in the form of a

film or a solid slug, which consists of a number of conducting particles

held together by resin. In the film type the base materials may be

glass, ceramic and plastics. Resistors can be (i) fixed resistors with two

ends, (ii) variable resistor or potentiometers. Resistors are specified by

the value of resistance, in ohms maximum power dissipation in watts,

and precision in %. Types: Resistors can be designed in many ways by

usage, shape, physical construction tolerances, resistances are of the

following three types i.e.

A) FIXED RESISTORS:

B) SEMIVARIABLE RESISTORS:
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C) VARIABLE RESISTORS:

The fixed resistances are those whose values cannot be changed. In

case of semi variable types of resistances their values can be changed

with help of a screwdriver. Semi variable types resistances are known

as preset. In case of the variable resistances their values can be

changed from zero to maximum with the help of a movable arm.

2) CAPACITORS :

It stores the charge across its two plates. Capacitor opposes the change of

voltage across its plates; the electric field developed across the plate opposes

the rapid change in voltages. It produces phase difference between voltage

applied to it and the current, which passes through it. The current leads the

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voltage by 90º in the ideal capacitance with infinite resistance across the

plates. (Fig. 3)

Design of capacitor is connected with relation of the proper electric material

for particular type of application. The dielectric material used for capacitors

may be grouped in the various classes.

The value of a capacitor depends upon the dielectric constant (K = Єo Єr.) of

the material. There are three main classes of capacitors: (i) Non electrolytic or

normal capacitors and (ii) electrolytic capacitors and (iii) variable capacitors.

The value of capacitor never remains constant except under certain fixed

conditions. It changes with temperature, frequency and ageing.

The capacitance units in farads, µ F, pF, Nf.

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Diode: A diode is a single junction device made of p and n type materials..

Its main function is to rectify an ac signal although other special purpose

diodes like zener and led’s are used for other purposes. A normal diode

comes in a black casing whereas a zener diode has a transparent casing.

Their pictures and symbols are given in fig. 7.

Other diodes may be made by a p type and n type materials or between a

semiconductor and a metal. If the junction is made between a metal and

semiconductor then it is called a Schottky diode whose application is in

rectifying and non-rectifying contacts and Schottky devices. If the pn

junction is made between very heavily doped materials then it forms a Zener

diode. These are used for voltage regulation in power supplies. and have

breakdown voltages which are very low. The normal diode has a breakdown

voltage of greater than 100 V. This property of current flow in only one
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direction i.e. when the diode is forward biased is used in rectification.

Though, theoretically the forward resistance of the diode is zero but

practically it is not.

Diodes are specified by max reverse voltage, and forward voltage and

maximum current capacity maximum frequency of operation. Diodes are

used in power supplies, for rectification, and in pulse shaping applications.

ZENER DIODE:

These diodes are operated in reverse bias mode, as the reverse bias is

increased the resistance remains constant until a certain value known as

avalanche point is reached due to avalanche effect the current suddenly

increases and the voltage across it becomes almost constant.

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Light Emitting Diode (LED)

Led’s are pn junction devices which emit light radiation when biased in the

forward direction. The semiconductor material used for these junctions is a

compound semiconductor like AlGaAs whose band gap corresponds to a

particular wavelength according to equation E g = 1.24 / λ where Eg is the

band gap in ev and λ is the wavelength in microns. When the pn junction is

forward biased, the electrons are excited to conduction band and when they

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fall to the valence band, they give out energy in the form of radiation

corresponding to the Eg of the material Conventional led’s are made from

the materials like AlGaAs, GaAlP, GaAsP, GaP and GaN which emit Red,

green, orange, yellow and blue colours respectively. A very important

precaution while using an led is the amount of current being passed through

it. For most leds the maximum allowable current is 20 mA beyond which the

led can burn out. Hence in most of the circuits a resistor is used to limit the

current. Some important specifications before using an led are: LED colour,

peak wavelength, viewing angle, optical power output, luminous intensity,

forward current and forward voltage. 

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Transistors
Transistors are semiconductor devices used for applications like

amplification of voltages, current and are also used in oscillator circuits and

switches. It’s a two junction and 3 terminal device made of three layers of n

and p type materials. The three regions are emitter, base and collector. They

are of 2 types (i) PNP and (ii) NPN

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A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals

changes the current through another pair of terminals. Because the

controlled (output) power can be higher than the controlling (input)

power, a transistor can amplify a signal.

The essential usefulness of a transistor comes from its ability to use a

small signal applied between one pair of its terminals to control a

much larger signal at another pair of terminals. This property is

called gain. It can produce a stronger output signal, a voltage or

current, that is proportional to a weaker input signal; that is, it can act

as an amplifier. Alternatively, the transistor can be used to turn

current on or off in a circuit as an electrically controlled switch, where

the amount of current is determined by other circuit elements.

There are two types of transistors, which have slight differences in

how they are used in a circuit.
Ie :- 1) bipolar transistor ,2) field-effect transistor,
A bipolar transistor has terminals labeledbase, collector,
and emitter. A small current at the base terminal (that is, flowing
between the base and the emitter) can control or switch a much
larger current between the collector and emitter terminals. For a field-
effect transistor, the terminals are labeled gate, source, and drain,
and a voltage at the gate can control a current between source and
drain.

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Integrated Circuit (IC)

An integrated circuit is a special component that contains an

entire electronic circuit, complete with transistors, diodes, and other

elements, all photographically etched onto a tiny piece of silicon.

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Integrated circuits are the building blocks of modern electronic

devices such as computers and cellphones.

Integrated circuit is a name given to a package which can hold more than 10

and up to millions of electronic components.. They come in a black bench

like casing with a notch on one side and with electrical legs for connections,

which are called pins.

ICs can be made very compact, having up to several

billion transistors and other electronic components in an area the size

of a fingernail

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