Basic electronics will include some of the few electrical appliances that we come across regularly and this will include batteries. The battery has two metal contacts one being the positive side and the other being the negative side. When a wire is connected directly between these two poles, an electrical current will flow through the wire. An electrical current is made up of electrons that flow through the wire just the same way water flows through a hose. If the wire is replaced with a bunch of electrical components, the current will still flow and something useful will happen.
A circuit is also another important term in electronics and this refers to a path by which the electricity flows from one end of a battery to the other. A circuit can be a single length of a wire or in complicated terms a mainframe computer. A circuit is best described by a diagram that is known as schematic. There are also several simple concepts in electricity that you should know and these will include volts, current and resistance. A battery is known to produce electrical pressure and this is measured in units called volts. In electricity when you connect a wire between the positive and negative terminals of a battery the electrons will start flowing and this is referred to as current, which is measured in Amps.
Almost all electrical conductors have some amount of resistance to them and this will include even the plain wires and the lower the resistance the electrical flows. In electricity the amount of current will depend on the resistance as well as the voltage and there is a formula for calculating this which is called the Ohms law and it says that Voltage=Current*Resistance. Using algebra, you can determine each one of these values by solving for it. In addition, this will mean that Current-Voltage/Resistance and Resistance=Voltage/Current.
If any of these values changes, it is definitely going to affect the other two. The normal electrical wire is designed to have very low resistance and in most cases, it is close to 0.01 ohms or even less. If you use a battery that has 6 volts and connect a plain wire across its terminals then the amount of current flow will be calculated as 6/0.01, which will result in 600 amps. It is also important to know that when electrons flow through a wire they will encounter some friction as they pass through the wire. If many electrons pass through a wire, it will become hot and melt.
You should always use some sort of resistance when using a battery to allow electricity flow from one end of the battery to the other because failure to this will cause a short circuit which may result in smoke or even worse fire and thereby causing electrical short. In short, voltage, current and resistance are all interrelated in an electrical circuit and you can find out the value of each if you have the value of the other two. Resistors are used to limit the current flow and switches do not have resistance.
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This article touched the basics of the topic. I have 2 more resources related to the above. They are rheostat and basic electronics . They are worth a read.
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