Some of the Basic Electronic Components and their Functions

When building electronic circuits, we need to work with some of the basic electronic components including resistors, capacitors, transistors, integrated circuits etc. Some of these components are called active components because they are involved in transformation of the energy while other components, that only dissipate energy, are known as passive elements.

Passive components are also called electrical elements. Some of the examples of passive components are:

Resistors:

A resistor is one of the basic components used in electronic circuits that resist the flow of current.

Capacitors:

Capacitor is the second most commonly used component in electronic circuits. It can temporarily store an electric charge. Capacitors come in different varieties, the two common types being ceramic disk and electrolytic. The amount of capacitance is usually measured in micro farads μF.

Diode:

Through diode, the current flows in only one direction. A diode has two terminals, called the anode and the cathode. Current will flow through the diode, when positive voltage is applied to the anode and negative voltage to the cathode. Current will now flow when these voltages are reversed.

Active components are those that have gain or directionality. Example: transistors, integrated circuits or ICs, logic gates. Active components can be further classified as semiconductor devices such as semiconductor diode, zener diode, Varactor diode etc.

Transistor:

A transistor has three terminals called base, collector and emitter. In this a voltage applied to one of the terminals can control current that flows across the other two terminals. The transistor is one of the most important devices in electronics.

Integrated circuit:

An integrated circuit consists of entire components including electronic circuit, complete with transistors, diodes, and other elements. Integrated circuits are the building blocks of modern electronic devices such as computers and cell phones.

All these components are essential for the building of any electronic components. If you want to buy any of these Electronic Components, you can contact a dealer who has a surplus distribution of electronic components.