Portal:Electronics

The Electronics portal

Surface-mount electronic components

Electronics comprises the physics, engineering, technology and applications that deal with the emission, flow and control of electrons in vacuum and matter. The identification of the electron in 1897, along with the invention of the vacuum tube, which could amplify and rectify small electrical signals, inaugurated the field of electronics and the electron age.

Electronics deals with electrical circuits that involve active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes, integrated circuits, optoelectronics, and sensors, associated passive electrical components, and interconnection technologies. Commonly, electronic devices contain circuitry consisting primarily or exclusively of active semiconductors supplemented with passive elements; such a circuit is described as an electronic circuit.

The nonlinear behaviour of active components and their ability to control electron flows makes amplification of weak signals possible. Electronics is widely used in information processing, telecommunication, and signal processing. The ability of electronic devices to act as switches makes digital information-processing possible. Interconnection technologies such as circuit boards, electronics packaging technology, and other varied forms of communication infrastructure complete circuit functionality and transform the mixed components into a regular working system.

Electrical and electromechanical science and technology deals with the generation, distribution, switching, storage, and conversion of electrical energy to and from other energy forms (using wires, motors, generators, batteries, switches, relays, transformers, resistors, and other passive components). This distinction started around 1906 with the invention by Lee De Forest of the triode, which made electrical amplification of weak radio signals and audio signals possible with a non-mechanical device. Until 1950 this field was called "radio technology" because its principal application was the design and theory of radio transmitters, receivers, and vacuum tubes.

most electronic devices use semiconductor components to perform electron control.  The study of semiconductor devices and related technology is considered a branch of solid-state physics, whereas the design and construction of electronic circuits to solve practical problems come under electronics engineering.  This article focuses on engineering aspects of electronics.


Selected biography

Hans Christian Ørsted (August 14, 1777 – March 9, 1851) was a Danish physicist and chemist, influenced by the thinking of Immanuel Kant. He is best known for discovering the relationship between electricity and magnetism known as electromagnetism. In April 1820 he noticed a compass needle deflected from magnetic north when the electric current from the battery he was using was switched on and off. This deflection convinced him that magnetic fields radiate from all sides of a live wire just as light and heat do. The CGS unit of magnetic induction (oersted) is named in honor of his contributions to the field of electromagnetism.

Selected design

An electrical model of an electrolytic capacitor.

Selected image

Credit: Ali@gwc.org.uk
Inside of a Dorman Smith circuit breaker.

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The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) said that repairing the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will cost up to 16.6 million or US\$21 million. More...

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HP Labs announces the creation of a Memristor, the fourth basic element of electronic circuits with the Resistor, Capacitor, and Inductor.

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The new South Pole Telescope has recently collected its first light in a long-term project to learn about the nature of dark energy. More...

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An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is a special type of light-emitting diode in which the emissive layer comprises a thin-film of certain organic compounds. The emissive electroluminescent layer can include a polymeric substance that allows the deposition of suitable organic compounds, for example, in rows and columns on a flat carrier by using a simple "printing" method to create a matrix of pixels which can emit different colored light. Such systems can be used in television screens, computer displays, portable system screens, advertising and information, and indication applications etc. OLEDs can also be used in light sources for general space illumination.

Selected article

In physics, Coulomb's law is an inverse-square law indicating the magnitude and direction of electrostatic force that one stationary, electrically charged object of small dimensions exerts on another. It is named after Charles-Augustin de Coulomb who used a torsion balance to establish it.

The magnitude of the electrostatic force between two point charges is directly proportional to the magnitudes of each charge and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the charges.

For calculating the direction and magnitude of the force simultaneously, one will wish to consult the full vector version of the Law

${\displaystyle {\vec {F}}={\frac {1}{4\pi \epsilon _{0}}}{\frac {q_{1}q_{2}}{|{\vec {r}}|^{3}}}{\vec {r}}={\frac {1}{4\pi \epsilon _{0}}}{\frac {q_{1}q_{2}}{|{\vec {r}}|^{2}}}{\hat {r}}}$
where ${\displaystyle {\vec {F}}}$ is the electrostatic force vector, ${\displaystyle q_{1}}$ is the charge on which the force acts, ${\displaystyle q_{2}}$ is the acting charge, ${\displaystyle {\vec {r}}={\vec {r_{1}}}-{\vec {r_{2}}}}$ is the distance vector between the two charges, ${\displaystyle {\vec {r_{1}}}\ }$ is position vector of ${\displaystyle q_{1}}$, ${\displaystyle {\vec {r_{2}}}\ }$ is position vector of ${\displaystyle q_{2}}$, ${\displaystyle {\hat {r}}}$ is a unit vector pointing in the direction of ${\displaystyle {\vec {r}}}$, and ${\displaystyle \epsilon _{0}}$ is a constant called the permittivity of free space.

This vector equation indicates that opposite charges attract, and like charges repel. When ${\displaystyle q_{1}q_{2}\ }$ is negative, the force is attractive. When positive, the force is repulsive.

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