Electronics Guide

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Electronic Component Classification

Electronic components are building blocks of electronic circuits and devices. A large assortment of electronic components exists today. The classification of these components is not exact, with many overlapping kinds and some of the components that can be placed in different groups.

Two main categories of electronic components exist: passive components such as wire, different connectors, switches and relays, resistors, capacitors, inductors, transformers, transducers; and active components such as diodes, transistors, analog and digital integral circuits (ICs). Transducers, components that transform signals to or from electric form, such as microphones, speakers, piezo-crystals, thermo-pairs, photo sensors, and displays, as well as various types of switches are often placed into the third group of miscellaneous components.

Active components are subdivided into semiconductor-based solid state components, and a range of vacuum-tube electron devices. Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), used in many TV-sets and computer displays, is a vacuum-tube device by construction, and a transducer device by function, it converts electronic signals into areas of visible light produced when the electrons emitted from the cathode element inside the tube hit the fluorescent screen.

Integrated Circuits, semiconductor based solid state components, can be further divided into Digital Integrated Circuits, Analog Integrated Circuits, and integrated circuits that convert digital signals to analog or back (digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs)).

Advancement in the area of Digital Integrated Circuits is what enabled rapid increase of computer technologies in the second part of the 20th century. A microprocessor, with thousands and thousands of discrete elements incorporated on a single silicone chip, is an example if a Digital Integrated Circuit or Digital IC.

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