Electronic Components

Electronic components are broadly classified into two:

• Active Components
• Passive components

Active components:
• The electronic components which are capable of amplifying or
processing of electrical signals.
• These components can able to provide Energy or Power to the
signals and provide Gain to the signal by controlling current or
Voltage.
• They have Non-linear Characteristics

Eg: Diodes, Transistors

Passive Components

• They are not capable of amplifying or processing the electrical

signals.
• Electronic components which do not provide power or energy
to the signal.
• They are having Linear characteristics.

• Three basic passive components:

• Resistor
• Capacitor
• Inductor
Resistors

• Resistance: Property of a substance to oppose the flow of electric

current through it
• A standard resistor can provide a particular amount of resistance to the
current flow depending upon its construction.

• The resistor is characterized by its Resistance Value in ‘ohms’ (Ω

Ω) and the
Power dissipation (Watts)

• At a particular temperature,
the voltage and current relationship
is linear in a resistor.
VαI

or I= 1 V
R
Resistor symbol

Fixed Resistor

Variable
Specifications of a resistor
Nominal Resistance :
The nominal resistance is the resistance that can be expected
when purchasing a resistor. They do not come in all values as per
the need of designers.

Tolerance :
The tolerance of the resistor is the amount by which the
resistance of resistor may vary from its stated value.
Larger the tolerance – More the resistance variation.
Smaller the tolerance – More stable resistance.
Common way of specifying the resistor tolerance is in
PERCENTAGE - %
Power Rating :
Defines the maximum amount of power that the resistor can with stand.

Operating Temperature :
Related to power rating, the operating temperature is the temperature that
the resistor can continue to operate before being destroyed.

Maximum Voltage :
In order to avoid material break down, a certain maximum voltage applied
over a resistor must not exceed. And it depends on resistors physical length,
materials & coating.

Temperature Co efficient (TC):

TC describes the relative change of resistors physical property that is
associated with the given change in temperature.
PTC – Temperature increases , Resistance also increases.
NTC – Temperature increases , Resistance decreases.
Color Coding of Resistors

• The resistance values of resistors are denoted using color coding

Four band Color coding

First Two bands: Digits

Third band: Power of Ten
Fourth band: Tolerance

Five band Color coding

First three bands: Digits

Fourth band: Power of Ten
Fifth band: Tolerance
Standard Resistance values :
Standard resistance values are derived by assigning sufficient number
of zeros or decimal points to these numbers :
10, 12, 15, 18, 22, 27, 33, 39, 47, 56, 68 and 82.

For example : 1.0 Ώ, 10 Ώ, 100 Ώ, 1.0K Ώ, 10K Ώ, 100K Ώ, 1.0M Ώ,

10M Ώ
Types of resistors:
Fixed Resistors
Depending upon the material used for construction, resistors
are classified
• Carbon composite
• Carbon Film
• Wire wound
• Metal Film

Variable Resistor
• Resistance value can be varied by the user
• Used in circuits to adjust the voltage and currents.
•Application: Volume control, speed control, brightness control
•Rheostat
•Potentiometer
•Preset
Special Types of Resistors

Light Dependent Resistor (LDR):

The resistance value will vary
according to the intensity of light
falling on it.

Thermistor:
Resistance value depends upon the
surrounding temperature.

Varistor (VDR):
A varistor is an electronic
component with an electrical
resistance that varies with the
applied voltage. Also known as a
voltage-dependent resistor (VDR)
Carbon Composition Resistor:

• Low power resistor

• Resistive Material – Carbon –Clay
• Terminal- Tinned Copper
• Protected using Plastic/ Resin coating
• Resistance Value range: few ohms – 22 MΩ
• Power Dissipation : 0.1W to 2W
• Size: diameter of 10mm
• Size increases for increased power dissipation.

• Very cheap, Reliable, and high stability during their life time.

• Disadv: Highly sensitive to temperature Variations

Carbon Film resistors:

• Fabricated using Film Deposition technique.

• Thick film of resistive material(pure carbon) will deposit on to an insulating
substrate (Ceramic, glass)
• Trimming the layer/ cutting helical grooves will be done to get desired
resistance value .
• Tinned copper is used for connecting terminal.
• Resistance value: few ohms - MΩ
• Power Rating: 1/8 W, ¼ W, ½ W
• Better stability against temperature variations and humidity.
Wire Wound Resistors:
• Resistive wire wound around an insulating cylindrical core
• Material used: Constantan or Manganin
• Constantan is an alloy of copper(60%) and nickel (40%).
• Major feature of Constantan is its resistivity, which is constant
over a wide range of temperatures.
• Manganin: copper(86% ), manganese(12%), and nickel(2%)

• These are precise resistors: resistance value is depends on length,

size and resistivity of material
• Tolerance is only 0.01% to 1%
• extremely high accuracy can be achieved using special alloys
•Mainly used in high power applications: 5-200W
• Resistance value: 1Ω to 1MΩ

• Because of the wire wound, inductive effect will arise.

• Resistor will become unstable at high frequencies
• In order to overcome this problem, a Bifilar winding (dual
threaded ) is used.
• Bifilar winding: Upon winding, one half of wire is wound in one
direction and other half in opposite direction, so that the
inductances in both halves will cancel each other.
• More expensive
Metal Film

• Metal is used as resistive material

• Structure is similar to carbon film resistor.

• High accuracy and is a precision resistors. Tolerance is just 1%

• Value up to 10000MΩ
• Extremely reliable and have good temperature coefficient.
• Costly
Variable Resistor
• Resistance value can be varied by the user
• Used in circuits to adjust the voltage and currents.
• E.g: Volume control, speed control, brightness control

•Variable resistor has three terminals: Two stationary and one

movable.
• If connection is made between one stationary and
movable leads, it will act as rheostat. Which is used to limit
current

• If all the three terminals are used, it is termed as

Potentiometer or Pot resistor. Which is used to
divide the voltage.
Rheostat:

• It is a wire wound variable resistor

• A resistive wire is wound over an insulating ceramic core and wiper slide is
placed over the winding.
• Used to control the current and mainly used in high power applications.
Potentio meter

• A Rotating shaft at the centre of the core.

• The resistance value is varied by rotating the shaft.
• Material : Carbon composition, Metallic film, Wire wound
• Potentio meter can be Linear or Non linear depending upon the wire
wounding.
• Linear: The wire is wound with uniform width around the core.
• Non-linear: The wire is not uniformly wound over the core.
Preset:

• Used in applications were the resistance is varied not frequently.

• It is a variant of potentio-meter having a metallic wiper that can be moved
with screw driver.

Circuit Symbol
Special Type Resistors:

Light Dependent Resistor (LDR):

• The resistance value will vary according to the intensity of light falling on
it.
• Resistance value will be low for high light intensity and will be high for low
or zero light intensities.
• Material Used: Cadmium sulphide.
Thermistor:

• Special resistor whose resistance value depends upon the surrounding

temperature.
• Thermistors are available in both positive and negative temperature
coefficient.

Varistor (VDR):

• A varistor is an electronic component with an electrical resistance that

varies with the applied voltage. Also known as a voltage-dependent resistor
(VDR)
• It has a nonlinear, non-ohmic current–voltage characteristic that is similar
to that of a diode..
 Capacitors
• A passive component
• Capacitor is used to store electric charges.
• The basic structure:
•Consist of Two metal plates separated by a dielectric (insulating
material)
• Unit of capacitance: Farad (F)
• When there is a potential difference across the conductors (e.g., when a
capacitor is attached across a battery), an electric field develops across the
dielectric, causing positive charge +Q to accumulate on one plate and negative
charge −Q to accumulate on the other plate.
• When a battery is connected across the capacitor, it gets charged.
• If the battery is removed, it discharges through the available path.
• Capacitors passes AC signals and blocks DC signals.

Capacitance (C) is defined as the ratio of the electric charge Q on each

conductor to the potential difference V between them.

or
•The value of the reactance of the capacitor is given by:

•The voltage and current relation in a capacitor is given by:

• Capacitors are mainly used in filtering or smoothening of electrical

signals.
Types of Capacitors:
• Fixed and Variable Capacitors.
• Classification based on the type of dielectric used:
1. Electrolytic Capacitor
2. Tantalum Capacitor
3. Ceramic Capacitor
4. Mica Capacitor
5. Paper Capacitor
 Numbering of capacitors
Type 1:
• If the number written on the capacitor is greater than 1 : value is in pF
If the number written on the capacitor is less than 1: value is in μF.
Example: 10 = 10pF
0.1 = 0.1μF
Type 2:
• If there are 3 digits in the number, the third number indicates the number
of zeros to be put after the two digits (i.e., multiplier) and the value will be
in pF.
Example : 103 = 10x103 pF or 0.01 μF

Type 3:
• If the letter K follows the digits: value will be in kilo picofarads.
• If the letter is n follows the digits: nano farads
• If the letter is M follows the digits: micro farads.
Example : 10k = 10kpF, 47n = 47nF, 47M = 47 μ F
Type 4:
• If the letter n , M or k is between 2 numerals, the value of the capacitor
can be obtained by putting the decimal in place of that letter and
multiplying by the respective factors nF, μF or kpF.
Example : 4k7 = 4.7kpF , 2M2 = 2.2 μF

Type 5 :
If the letters k or M or J follows the 3 digit number, it implies the tolerance
value
K = +10%
M = + 20%
J = + 5%
Note:

pF = 10-12 F

nF = 10-9 F

µF = 10-6 F
Examples

10x104 pF = 10x10-2 μF
= 0.1 μF

47 nF + 10% = 47x10-9 F + 10%

= 0.047 μF + 10%

22x102 pF + 5% = 22x10-4 μF + 5%
= 0.0022 μF + 5%
Colour coding of a capacitor
 SPECIFICATIONS OF A CAPACITOR
Working Voltage:
The maximum continuous voltage either DC or AC that can be applied
to the capacitor without failure during its working life.

Tolerance: It is the variation of the actual capacitance value.

A 100µF capacitor with a ±20% tolerance could legitimately vary from
80µF to 120µF and still remain within tolerance.

Working Temperature ( T )
It is the temperature that is maintained for the proper working of the
capacitor.
Changes in temperature around the capacitor affect the value of the
capacitance because of changes in the dielectric properties.
Leakage Current
The dielectric used inside the capacitor to separate the conductive plates is
not a perfect insulator resulting in a very small current flowing or "leaking"
through the dielectric due to the influence of the powerful electric fields built
up by the charge on the plates when applied to a constant supply voltage.
Electrolytic Capacitor
• Electrolytic capacitor has polarity. i.e., they have positive and negative
terminals.
• The general structure is shown below:
• One electrode will act as the anode or positive terminal
• The oxide layer formed around this anode will act as the dielectric medium
• A solid or non-solid electrolyte (A substance that dissociates into ions in
solution acquires the capacity to conduct electricity) which covers the surface
of the oxide layer in principle serves as the cathode or negative terminal of the
capacitor
• In practical cases we will use Aluminium based electrolytic capacitor.
• It consist of Aluminium foil electrodes with an Aluminium oxide film
covering one side.
• Aluminium foil act as Electrodes
• Aluminium oxide act as Dielectric
• The oxide is in contact with a paper saturated with an electrolyte.
• This electrolyte forms the second plate of the capacitor.
• Another layer of aluminium without coating is used for making
electrical contact between one of the terminal and electrolyte.

(Negative)

• The values ranges: 1μF to few thousands of μF

• Voltage ranges from 1V to 500V
• Provide largest capacitance values per unit volume compared to the two
other main conventional capacitor families, ceramic and plastic film capacitors
Tantalum capacitors
• It is also an Electrolytic capacitor
• These type of capacitors are used in circuits which demands high stability
in capacitance value.
• Uses a high-purity powdered Tantalum metal on which a very thin
insulating Tantalum Pentoxide is formed and will act as Dielectric.
• Manganese dioxide is the Electrolyte and will act as cathode.
• Connection to electrolyte is done using Graphite and Silver.
• Because of its Very thin and relatively high permittivity dielectric layer,
the tantalum capacitor is having high capacitance per volume (high
volumetric efficiency) and lower weight.
Mica Capacitors
• Also known as silver mica capacitors
• Mica is a transparent, high dielectric strength mineral.
• It has high breakdown voltage and is chemically inert, which produce
highly stable capacitors.
• Mica capacitors are constructed by sandwiching layers of metal foil and
mica which is firmly clamped and encapsulated in a plastic package.

Capacitance value – 1pF to 0.1 μF

Voltage ranges – 500V to 75 kV
Ceramic capacitors
• The capacitor uses Ceramic material as the dielectric : which is composed of
Titanium and Barium.
• Two most common types: multi-layer ceramic capacitors and ceramic disc
capacitors.

Ceramic Disc capacitors

• They do not have any polarity and can be used in both DC and AC circuits.
• Used in circuits which bypass high frequency signals to ground.

• Capacitance value : 3pF to 2 μF

• Voltage ranges – 100V to 100 kV
Paper capacitor
• Paper capacitor consists of Metal foils separated by strips of paper, which
is soaked with a dielectric material such as wax, plastic or oil.
• They have no polarity and can be used in both DC and AC circuits.

Capacitance value : 500pF to 50 μ F

Tolerance : ±10% to ±20%
Voltage ranges : 100V and higher
Disadvantage : Large Size
Plastic Film Capacitor
• Basic Construction technique is same as the paper capacitors.
• Dielectric is a thin sheet of Plastic (Teflon or Polyethylene or Mylar )
• This dielectric improves the properties of the capacitor by minimizing
leakage currents even at temperature of up to 150-200°C.

Capacitance value : 5000 pF to 10uF

Tolerance : ±20%
Voltage range : 100V to 600V
 Variable capacitors
1. Gang Capacitor
• Gang capacitors is a group of capacitors ganged together.
• It is a rotor-stator type variable capacitor which consists of two sets of metal
plates.
• The fixed plates are connected together to form the stator and movable
plates are connected together to form the rotor.
• Capacitance is varied by rotating the shaft.
• Gang capacitors are used in radio receivers for Tuning the channels.
2. Trimmer
• Trimmer capacitors are used in electronic circuits,
where the frequent capacitance variation is not required.
• The dielectric may be mica or ceramic.
• A screw is mounted on the trimmer to vary the capacitance.
• It produce low value capacitance in the order of pF and find applications in
TV, radio and other broad cast receivers.

3. Padder capacitor
• It is a trimmer with comparatively high value capacitance with air as
dielectric
• By turning the screws, the air gap between the two aluminum cups can be
varied to vary the capacitance.
• Capacitance value : 5pF to 600pF.
 Inductors
• Inductor is passive two-terminal electrical component which
exhibits Inductance property.
• An inductor is also called a coil or reactor.
• Inductance is the property of a device which oppose any
CHANGE in the current flowing through it and stores energy
temporarily in a magnetic field in the coil and induces an EMF.
• The Current voltage relation ship in an inductor is given by:

• The reactance of the Inductor is given by:

• Inductor offers high impedance to AC and low impedance to DC.

• The SI unit of inductance is the Henry (H)
• Inductance (L) of an inductor depends on:
1. Number of turns of the coil (N).
2. Cross section area of the coil (A).
3. Nature of the core/ permeability of core (μ).
4. Length of coil (l)
Example for working principle of inductor
Types of Inductors:
• Inductors are classified based on the core used
1. Air core Inductor
Made of thin copper wire wound over a
former made of thick card board.
2. Iron core Inductor
Made of copper wire wound on a laminated
iron core. Laminated iron core consists of
thin iron sheets pressed together and
insulated from each other.
3. Ferrite core Inductor
Made of copper wire wound on a
ferromagnetic material called Ferrite.
Ferrite contain iron oxides combined with
nickel, zinc, and/or manganese compounds
Specifications

 Nominal Inductance: Inductor specifications normally include the value of

inductance (expressed in H, μH, or nH)

 Current Rating: The maximum current which can be continuously applied

to the inductor under a given set of conditions.

 Tolerance: Is the maximum permissible percentage deviation from the

marked value of the inductor.

 Temperature coefficient: It will give the variation of inductance value for

the change in the temperature. Usually expressed in parts per million
(ppm), per unit temperature change.

 DC Resistance: (DCR) It is the amount of resistance that an inductor can

offer to the DC signals.
Types of Inductors:
• Inductors are classified based on the core used

1. Air core Inductor

• Made of thin copper wire wound over a former made of thick card
board.
• Have low inductance value & suitable for radio (high) frequency
applications.
2. Iron core Inductor

• Made of copper wire wound on a laminated iron core.

• Laminated iron core consists of thin iron sheets pressed together and
insulated from each other.
• Suitable for Audio (Low) frequency applications.

Thin layer of
insulated iron
sheets
3. Ferrite core Inductor
• Made of copper wire wound on a ferromagnetic material called Ferrite.

• Ferrite contain iron oxides combined with nickel, zinc, and/or manganese
compounds

• Advantage: Comparatively low losses at high frequencies.

• They are extensively used in applications such as switched-mode power
supplies (SMPS) and for AM radio receivers.

• Variable type ferrite core inductor are available: In which the ferrite core is
made to move in and out of the coil, there by the inductance value can be
changed.
Chokes: It is a type of inductor that is used to block higher frequency AC in
electrical circuits while passing Low frequency or DC.

1. Filter Chokes :
• It has many turns of fine wire wound on an iron core made
of laminated sheets.
• It is used in smoothing the pulsating currents produced by
rectifying AC into DC.

2. Audio Frequency Chokes:

• AFCs are used to provide high impedance to audio frequencies (about 50Hz to
5kHz).
• Smaller in size and have lower inductance in comparison to filter chokes.

3. Radio Frequency Chokes:

• Have many turns of wire wound over an air core with very small value of
inductance.
• RFCs are used to provide high impedance to radio frequencies (above 10kHz).
• They are smaller in size compared to AFCs
 Transformers
• Transformer is an electrical device which is designed to transfer electrical
energy from one circuit to another by utilizing the principle of MUTUAL
INDUCTION.
Construction & Working Principle of Transformer
• It has two winding known as Primary and Secondary windings.
• A varying current in the transformer's primary winding creates a varying
magnetic flux in the core and a varying magnetic field impinging on the
secondary winding.
• This varying magnetic field at the secondary induces a varying electromotive
force (EMF) or voltage in the secondary winding.
• This is known as Mutual Induction.
• Due to this EMF, a current will start to follow through the secondary winding
and is known as Secondary current.
• The primary and secondary windings are wrapped around a core of infinitely
high magnetic permeability. so that all of the magnetic flux passes through
both the primary and secondary windings.
•With a voltage source connected to the primary winding and
load impedance connected to the secondary winding, the transformer currents
flow in the indicated directions.

• Back EMF – Self induced EMF in primary winding opposes the applied voltage.

• DC is never applied to a Transformer : Flux produced in primary will not vary &
remain constant in magnitude, so no EMF is induced in secondary winding
Types of transformers

1. Power Transformer
2. High Frequency Transformers
3. Auto-transformer
Power Transformers
• Power transformers are of two types – Step up & Step down transformers.
Step up Transformer :
• The number of turns in the primary winding is less than that in secondary
winding.
• The AC voltage fed across the primary gets boosted up & available across
the secondary winding.
Step down Transformer :
• Number of turns in the secondary winding is less than that of primary
winding.
• It converts the high voltage signals to low voltage.

• These are mainly used in DC power supplies

High Frequency Transformers
1. Audio frequency transformer
2. Intermediate frequency transformer

Audio Frequency Transformer

• These transformers are used in Audio frequency (low frequency) applications
in the range of 20 – 20kHz.

• AF transformers are used for voltage, current and Impedance transformation.

• AF transformers are also called as Input – Output Transformers.

• Input transformers are used to couple low impedance source such as

microphone, transmission line etc with high impedance circuit like amplifiers.

• Output transformers are used in public addressing system to match the high
output impedance of an amplifier with loud speaker having low impedance.
Intermediate Frequency Transformers (IFT)

• It is a special type of transformer, which is used to convert the frequency of

the input signal.
• IFTs are used in radio receivers.
• The frequency of radio signal is very high(MHz), and the
circuits used in radios are not capable of handling such
high frequency signals.
• So an IFT is used in the radio receiver for converting the
high frequency radio signal to low frequency signal, so that the radio can be
operated with out much complications.
• We call such radio receiver as a Super Heterodyne receiver.
• Standard value of Intermediate frequency is 455KHz
Auto Transformers
• In ideal transformers, the primary & secondary windings are completely
insulated from each other and magnetically linked by a common core.

• But in auto transformer, both windings are inter related electrically as well
as magnetically. i.e., Single continuous winding for both the primary &
secondary.

• According to the desired secondary voltage, taps are brought out at

convenient points on the winding.
• So depending upon the position of the taps, we can have different values
for the secondary voltage
Step down auto transformer

Step up auto transformer

Specifications of a Transformer

 Voltage Rating : It is the maximum voltage that the transformer windings

can produce.

 Current Rating : It is the maximum current that the transformer winding

can carry.

 Power Rating : It is the maximum power which can be continuously

delivered by the transformers.

 Frequency Range : It is the range of frequencies in which the transformer

operates without failure.

 Regulation : It is the measure of the ability of a transformer to maintain its

rated output voltage under load. It is expressed in percentage.