UNIT 6
UNDERSTANDING ELECTRONICS
Lead-in
· What electronic components do you know?
· What is the smallest electronic component?
· What electronic components do you use when working with ciruitcs?
Practise pronunciation of the following words and underline the stressed syllable. Translate the words into Ukrainian.
Industry, science, vacuum tube, diode, circuit, circuit board, nonlinear, components, control, possible, signal, processing, electro-mechanical, generation, conversion, motor, relay, passive, leads, particular, discretely, array, treat, rely, inductors, valve, to increase, increase, lossless, lossy, prototypical, non-ideal.
Memorize the following words and word combinations. Make up your own examples.
| 1. | electrical circuits | електричні схеми |
| 2. | vacuum tube | електронна лампа |
| 3. | integrated circuit (ІС) | інтегральна схема (ІС) |
| 4. | nonlinear behaviour | нелінійна поведінка |
| 5. | ability | здатність |
| 6. | amplification | підсилення |
| 7. | weak signals | слабкі сигнали |
| 8. | wire | провід |
| 9. | switch | перемикач |
| 10. | relay | реле |
| 11. | discrete | дискретний |
| 12. | electrical terminals (or leads) | ввід-вивід; живильний провід |
| 13. | intended | призначений |
| 14. | soldering | паяння |
| 15. | a printed circuit board (PCB) | друкована плата |
| 16. | electronic circuit | електронна схема |
| 17. | array | велика кількість; матриця; множина |
| 18. | to treat sth/sb as | поводитися; ставитися |
| 19. | resonant circuit | резонансний контур |
| 20. | capacitor | конденсатор |
| 21. | inductor | індуктор |
| 22. | to inject | вводити |
| 23. | lossless and lossy components | компоненти без втрат та з втратами |
| 24. | attached | прикріплений |
| 25. | to аccount for | вираховувати |
Read the text. State what electronic components are being described.
Understanding Electronics
I
Electronics is one of the largest and fastest growing industries. It is the branch of science and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits (ІСs). The nonlinear behaviour of these components and their ability to control electron flows makes amplification of weak signals possible, and is usually applied to information and signal processing. Electronics differs from electrical and electro-mechanical science and technology, which 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.
An electronic component is a basic electronic element and may be available in a discrete form having two or more electrical terminals (or leads). These are intended to be connected together, usually by soldering to a printed circuit board, in order to create an electronic circuit with a particular function (for example an amplifier, radio receiver, or oscillator). Basic electronic components may be packaged discretely, as arrays or networks of like components, or integrated inside of packages such as semiconductor integrated circuits or thick film devices. The following list of electronic components focuses on the discrete version of these components, treating such packages as components in their own right.
II
When it is necessary to describe electronic components they are usually classified as passive or active. Passive components are ones which cannot introduce net energy into the circuit they are connected to. They also cannot rely on a source of power except for what is available from the circuit they are connected to. As a consequence they are unable to amplify (increase the power of a signal), although they may well increase a voltage or current such as is done by a transformer or resonant circuit. Among passive components are familiar two-terminal components such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, and most sorts of diodes.
In contrast, active components rely on a source of energy and are usually able to inject power into a circuit although this is not part of the definition. This includes amplifying components such as transistors, triode vacuum tubes (valves) and tunnel diodes.
Passive components can be further divided into lossless and lossy components. Lossless components do not have a net power flow into or out of the component. This would include ideal capacitors, inductors, transformers, and the (theoretical) gyrator. Lossy components do not have that property and generally absorb power from the external circuit over time. The prototypical example is the resistor. In practice all non-ideal passive components are at least a little lossy, but these are typically modeled in circuit analysis as consisting of an ideal lossless component with an attached resistor to account for the loss.
4. Answer the following questions:
1. What are basic electronic components?
2. How can electronic components be classified?
3. What does PCB stand for? 4. What are passive components?
5. How does electronics differ from electrical and electro-mechanical science and technology?
6. What is the difference between lossless and lossy components?
7. What components do not have a net power flow into or out of the component?
8. To what group of components does the resistor refer?
Exercises
