Electronic Components
From how components behave to how to identify them on a bench — reading the values, markings, types, and ratings of the resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes, transistors, and ICs you'll actually pick up and replace.
8 sections · 200 minutes of reading.
0/8- 4.1Resistors — Types, Values, and MarkingsReading a resistor at a glance — the color-band code, the tiny SMD number codes, why values come in standard steps, and the types and ratings that decide which one to fit.BeginnerLow Risk22 min read
- 4.2Capacitors — Types, Ratings, and IdentificationTelling ceramic from electrolytic from film, reading the picofarad code on a tiny disc, and respecting the two things that make a capacitor fail violently — voltage rating and polarity.BeginnerLow Risk24 min read
- 4.3Inductors and TransformersRecognizing chokes, beads, and power coils, reading their microhenry codes, and understanding the transformer — two coupled windings whose turns ratio sets the voltage and whose isolation is a safety feature.Beginner+Medium Risk26 min read
- 4.4Diodes — Function and TypesThe one-way valve for current — how a diode conducts forward and blocks reverse, its forward voltage drop, the cathode stripe, the common types, and how to test one with a multimeter.Beginner+Low Risk24 min read
- 4.5Transistors — BJT and MOSFET FundamentalsThe component that made active electronics possible — a small signal controlling a large current, as a switch and an amplifier, in its two great families: the current-controlled BJT and the voltage-controlled MOSFET.IntermediateLow Risk28 min read
- 4.6Voltage Regulators — Linear and SwitchingThe part that gives a circuit a steady, clean supply — the simple, low-noise linear regulator that burns the excess as heat, and the efficient switching regulator that transfers it instead.IntermediateLow Risk26 min read
- 4.7Op-Amps and Amplifier ICsThe op-amp — a high-gain differential building block whose two golden rules explain nearly every circuit it appears in: comparator, amplifier, and buffer alike.IntermediateLow Risk26 min read
- 4.8PMICs — Power Management ICsThe chapter's most integrated chip — a whole power subsystem in one part, generating and sequencing many rails, and a frequent, difficult culprit behind no-power faults.IntermediateLow Risk24 min read
- Chapter Quiz64questions · 80% required to continue