Commonly used electronic components encompass a wide array of devices vital to modern electronics. These components form the building blocks of electronic circuits, facilitating the functionality of devices we use daily, from smartphones and computers to household appliances and automotive systems. Understanding their properties and applications is fundamental in electronics design and engineering.
1. Resistor
The physical component with resistive properties used in electrical and electronic technology is called a resistor, represented by the letter R.
Various types of resistors are widely used in electronic equipment. According to statistics, in general electronic products, resistors account for about 40% of the total number of components. It can be seen that mastering the basic characteristics and correct use of various resistors Resistors are crucial. They are used as voltage dividers, current shunts, current limiting resistors, circuit loads, attenuation components in circuits, RC type loop components, etc.
Types： Fixed Resistors, Variable Resistors, Chip Resistors, Thick Film Resistors,Thin Film Resistors, Metal Oxide Film Resistors,Carbon Composition Resistors…
2. Capacitor
A capacitor is a component consisting of two metal plates with a dielectric sandwiched between them, and is represented by the letter C.
Capacitor is one of the components widely used in electronic equipment. It has the ability to block DC and separate various frequencies. It is widely used in DC blocking, coupling, bypass, filtering, decoupling, phase shifting, resonant circuit tuning, and waveform transformation ( Differential, integral), energy conversion, time constant setting in control circuits, etc.
Types: Electrolytic Capacitors,Ceramic Capacitors, Tantalum Capacitors, Film Capacitors, Supercapacitors, Variable Capacitors and High-Voltage Capacitors…
3. Inductor
A general inductor is made of enameled wire, yarn-covered wire or silver-plated copper wire wound around an insulating tube for a certain number of turns (N), so it is also called an inductor coil. The basic unit of inductance is Henry (referred to as Henry), represented by the letter “H”.
Inductors can be used for tuning, filtering, blocking, notching, high-frequency compensation, impedance matching, delay lines, etc.
Types : Air Core Inductors, Ferrite Core Inductors, Iron Core Inductors, Toroidal Inductors, Multilayer Chip Inductors, Coupled Inductors, Variable Inductors, Shielded Inductors…
4. Relay
A relay is an automatic switch that uses low voltage and small current to control high voltage and large current. It plays the roles of automatic operation, automatic adjustment, and safety protection in the circuit. Commonly used relays mainly include electromagnetic relays, dry reed relays, magnetic latching reed relays and solid state relays. Among them, electromagnetic relays are the most commonly used type and use electromagnetic force to switch contacts. The symbol of electromagnetic relay in the circuit is “K” or “KA”.
5. Semiconductor diode
A semiconductor diode is composed of a PN junction welded to two electrode leads and a shell package. The unidirectional conductive characteristics of the diode can be expressed by the volt-ampere characteristic curve. There are many types of semiconductor diodes. According to materials, they are divided into germanium diodes, silicon diodes and gallium arsenide diodes.
According to structures, they are divided into point contact diodes and surface contact diodes. According to working principles, they are divided into tunnel diodes, avalanche diodes, varactor diodes, etc.; according to their uses, they are divided into There are detection diodes, rectifier diodes, switching diodes, etc.
Types: Rectifier Diodes, Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs), Photodiodes, Tunnel Diodes, Varactor Diodes, Zener diodes, Constant Current Diodes…
6. Transistor
Transistor, also known as semiconductor triode, referred to as triode or transistor, has three external electrodes (lead-out pins), some of which have 4 pins, one of which is used for grounding and has nothing to do with the functions of the other three poles. The basic function of a triode is to amplify or switch electrical signals. It is widely used in electronic circuits and is one of the core components of electronic equipment.
7. Field effect transistor
When an electric field is applied in the vertical direction of the semiconductor surface, electrons and holes move under the action of the surface electric field, and carriers are redistributed on the semiconductor surface. Therefore, the conductivity of the semiconductor surface is changed by the electric field, that is, Changing the magnitude and direction of the applied voltage can control the concentration and type of carriers in the semiconductor surface layer, or control the width of the PN junction space charge region. This phenomenon is called the field effect of the semiconductor.
The work of field effect transistors is based on the field effect on the semiconductor surface.
8. Electroacoustic devices
Electroacoustic devices are transducer elements that convert electrical signals into sound signals or convert sound signals into electrical signals. Commonly used electroacoustic devices in electronic circuits include speakers, microphones, headphones and buzzers.
Speakers are used to convert electrical energy (electrical signals) into sound energy (audio signals) and radiate them. The speaker’s written symbol in the circuit is “B” or “BL”.
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electrical conversion device that can convert sound signals into electrical signals. It acts in the opposite direction to the speaker. The text symbol of the microphone is “B” or “BM”.
Earphones and buzzers are also electro-acoustic transducer devices that convert electrical signals into acoustic signals.
9. Protection components
Protection components used in electronic equipment include fuse resistors, ordinary fuses, thermal fuses and resettable fuses, etc. The protective element is generally connected in series in the circuit. When abnormal phenomena such as overcurrent, overvoltage or overheating occur in the circuit, it will immediately fuse to protect and prevent further expansion of the fault.
10. Quartz crystal resonator
Quartz crystals are generally used in electronic circuits to generate stable oscillation frequencies and as crystal filters. Quartz crystal can be used as a separate component, or it can be used together with semiconductor devices and resistor-capacitor components to form a quartz crystal oscillator. A quartz crystal oscillator is an anisotropic crystal. Thin slices called wafers are cut from a crystal at a certain azimuth angle (can be square, rectangular or circular, etc.), and then coated on two corresponding surfaces of the wafer. The silver layer and a pair of metal plates are installed to form a quartz crystal oscillator. The text symbol of quartz crystal resonator is B or BC.
11. IC
Integrated Circuits (ICs) are miniature electronic circuits consisting of numerous interconnected semiconductor components, such as transistors, diodes, resistors, and capacitors, all fabricated onto a single chip of semiconductor material. They’re also known as microchips or chips.
Types: Analog ICs, Digital ICs, Mixed-Signal ICs, ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits), SoCs (System-on-Chip)…
