An electronic component is a basic electronic element usually packaged in a discrete form with two or more connecting leads or metallic pads. Components are intended to be connected together, usually by soldering to a printed circuit board, to create an electronic circuit with a particular function (for example an amplifier, radio receiver, or oscillator). Components may be packaged singly (resistor, capacitor, transistor, diode etc.) or in more or less complex groups as integrated circuits (operational amplifier, resistor array, logic gate etc.)
Components
Very often electronic components are mechanically stabilized, improved in insulation properties and protected from environmental influence by being enclosed in synthetic resin
Components may be Passive or Active:
Passive components are those that do not have gain or directionality. [1] In the Electrical industry they are called Electrical elements or electrical components
Active components are those that have gain or directionality, in contrast to passive components, which have neither. They include semiconductor devices and vacuum tubes (valves).
[edit] Terminals and connectors
Devices to make electrical connection
Terminal
Connector
Socket
Screw terminal, Terminal Blocks
Header
Closed
Cords
Cables with connectors or terminals at their ends
Power cord
Patch cord
Test lead
Switches
Components that may be made to either conduct (closed) or not (open)
Switch - manually operated switch
Keypad - small array of pushbutton switches
Relay - Electrically operated switch. This is a mechanical component, unlike the Solid State Relay
Reed switch - Magnetically activated switch
Thermostat - Thermally activated switch
Circuit Breaker - Over-current activated switch
Limit switch - Mechanically activated switch
Mercury switch
Centrifugal switch
Resistors
Components used to resist current.
See the Transducer section below for resistors used to sense environmental conditions (Thermistor, Photo resistor, RTD...)
See the Protection section below for resistors used for current or voltage limiting (MOV, Inrush Limiters...)
Resistor - fixed value
Resistor network - array of resistors in one package
Trimmer - Small variable resistor
Potentiometer, Rheostat - variable resistor
Heater - heating element
Resistance wire - wire of high-resistance material, similar to heating element
Thermistor - temperature-varied resistor
Varistor - voltage-varied resistor
Protection devices
Passive components that protect circuits from excessive currents or voltages
While these components technically belong to the Wire, Resistor and Vacuum classes, they are grouped here based on their use.
Active components that perform a protection function are in the Semiconductor class, below.
Fuse - Over-current protection, one time use
Resettable fuse (PolySwitch, self-resetting fuse)- Over-current protection, resettable
Metal Oxide Varistor, Surge Absorber (MOV) - Over-voltage protection. These are passive components, unlike the TVS
Inrush current limiter - protection against initial Inrush current
Gas Discharge Tube - protection against high voltage surges
Circuit Breaker - Over-current activated switch
Spark gap - two electrodes with a gap in between to create arcing
Filament lamp
GFCI or RCD
Capacitors
Components that store electrical charge in an electrical field. Capacitors are used for filtration in the electronic circuits. Capacitors in general pass changing (e.g. AC) and block unchanging (e.g. DC) voltage levels.
Capacitor - fixed capacitance
Capacitor network (array)
Variable capacitor - change the capacitance
Varicap diode - variable capacitor come diode
Magnetic (inductive) devices
Electrical components that use magnetism
Inductor, coil, choke
Variable inductor
Saturable Inductor
Transformer
Magnetic amplifier (toroid)
Ferrite impedances, beads
Motor / Generator
Solenoid
Speaker / Microphone
Networks
Components that use more than one type of passive component
RC network - forms an RC circuit, used in Snubbers
LC Network - forms an LC circuit, used in tuneable transformers and RFI filters
Piezoelectric devices, crystals, resonators
Passive components that use piezoelectric effect
Components that use the effect to generate or filter high frequencies
Crystal - Is a ceramic crystal used to generate precise frequencies (See the Modules class below for complete oscillators)
Ceramic resonator - Is a ceramic crystal used to generate semi-precise frequencies
Ceramic filter - Is a ceramic crystal used to filter a band of frequencies such as in radio receivers
Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) filters
Components that use the effect as mechanical Transducers.
Ultrasonic motor - Electric motor that uses the piezoelectric effect
For piezo buzzers and microphones, see the Transducer class below
Power sources
Sources of electrical power
Battery - acid- or alkali-based power supply
Fuel cell - an electrochemical generator
Power supply - usually a mains hook-up
Photo voltaic device - generates electricity from light
Generator - an electromechanical power source
Transducers, sensors, detectors
Transducers generate physical effects when driven by an electrical signal, or vice-versa.
Sensors (detectors) are transducers that react to environmental conditions by changing their electrical properties or generating an electrical signal.
The Transducers listed here are single electronic components (as opposed to complete assemblies), and are passive (see Semiconductors and Tubes for active ones). Only the most common ones are listed here.
Audio (see also Piezoelectric devices)
Microphone - Magnetic, electrostatic (capacitive), piezoelectric and others. Convert audio to electrical signal
Loudspeaker - Magnetic or piezoelectric device to generate full audio
Buzzer - Magnetic or piezoelectric sounder to generate tones
Position, motion
Linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) - Magnetic - detects linear position
Rotary encoder, Shaft Encoder - Optical, magnetic, resistive or switches - detects absolute or relative angle or rotational speed
Inclinometer - Capacitive - detects angle with respect to gravity
Motion sensor, Vibration sensor
Flow meter - detects flow in liquid or gas
Force, torque
Strain gauge - Piezoelectric or resistive - detects squeezing, stretching, twisting
Accelerometer - Piezoelectric - detects acceleration, gravity
Thermal
Thermocouple, thermopile - Wires that generate a voltage proportional to delta temperature
Thermistor - Resistor whose resistance changes with temperature, up PTC or down NTC
Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD) - Wire whose resistance changes with temperature
Bolometer
Thermal cutoff - Switch that is opened or closed when a set temperature is exceeded
Magnetic field (see also Hall Effect in semiconductors)
Magnetometer, Gauss meter
Humidity
Hygrometer
Electromagnetic, light
Photo resistor - Light dependent resistor (LDR)
Solid State components, Semiconductors
Electronic control components with no moving parts. Active components
Diodes
A device which conducts electricity in only one direction.
Standard Diode, Rectifier, Bridge Rectifier
Schottky Diode, Hot Carrier Diode - super fast diode with low forward voltage drop
Zener Diode - lets electricity flow "backwards" if it is suitably high in voltage
Transient Voltage Suppression Diode (TVS), Unipolar or Bipolar - used to block high-voltage spikes
Varactor, Tuning diode, Varicap, Variable Capacitance Diode - A diode come capacitor
Light Emitting Diode (LED) - A diode which gives out light
LASER Diode - A laser LED
Photodiode - Only passes power when in light
Solar Cell, photovoltaic cell, PV array or panel
Avalanche Photodiode
Diode for Alternating Current (DIAC, Trigger Diode, SIDAC)
Current source Diode
Peltier cooler
Transistors
Bipolar transistors
Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT, "transistor") - NPN or PNP
Photo transistor
Darlington transistor - NPN or PNP
Photo Darlington
Sziklai pair (Compound transistor, complementary Darlington)
Field effect transistor (FET)
Junction Field Effect Transistor (JFET) - N-CHANNEL or P-CHANNEL
Metal Oxide Semiconductor FET (MOSFET) - N-CHANNEL or P-CHANNEL
MEtal Semiconductor FET (MESFET)
High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT)
Thyristors
UniJunction Transistor (UJT)
Programmable UniJunction Transistor (PUT)
Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR)
Static Induction Transistor/Thyristor (SIT, SITh)
TRIode for Alternating Current (TRIAC)
Composite transistors
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)--
Integrated circuits
Digital
Analog
Hall effect sensor - Senses a magnetic field
Current sensor - Senses a current through it
Hybrid Circuits
Optoelectronics
Opto-Isolator, Opto-Coupler, Photo-Coupler - Photodiode, BJT, JFET, SCR, TRIAC, Zero-crossing TRIAC, Open collector IC, CMOS IC, Solid State Relay (SSR)
Opto Switch, Opto Interrupter, Optical Switch, Optical Interrupter, Photo switch, Photo Interrupter
LED Display - Seven-segment display, Sixteen-segment display, Dot matrix display
Display technologies
Current:
Filament lamp (indicator lamp)
Vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) (preformed characters, 7 segment, starburst)
Cathode ray tube (CRT) (dot matrix scan (eg computer monitor), radial scan (eg radar), arbitrary scan (eg oscilloscope)) (monochrome & colour)
LCD (preformed characters, dot matrix) (passive, TFT) (monochrome, colour)
Neon (individual, 7 segment display)
LED (individual, 7 segment display, starburst display, dot matrix)
Flap indicator (numeric, preprinted messages)
Plasma display (dot matrix)
Obsolete:
Filament lamp 7 segment display (aka 'minitron')
Nixie Tube
Dekatron (aka glow transfer tube)
Magic eye indicator
Penetron (a 2 colour see-through CRT)
Thermionic Valve, Vacuum Tube
Active devices that operate in vacuum
Diode
Triode
Tetrode
Pentode
Hexode
Pentagrid
Octode
Barretter
Nuvistor
Compactron
Microwave
Klystron
Magnetron
Optical
Photodiode
Cathode ray tube (CRT)
Vacuum fluorescent display (VFD)
Photomultiplier tube
X-ray tube
Discharge devices
Gas discharge tube
Obsolete:
Mercury arc rectifier
Voltage regulator tube
Nixie tube
Thyratron
Ignitron
Assemblies, modules
Multiple electronic components assembled in a device that is in itself used as a component
Oscillator
Display devices
Liquid crystal display (LCD)
Filter
Antennas
Elemental dipole
Biconical
Yagi
Phased array
Magnetic dipole (loop)
Parabolic dish
Feedhorn, Waveguide
Prototyping aids
Wire-wrap
Breadboard
Mechanical accessories
Enclosure
Heat sink
Heat sink paste & pads
Fan
Other
Printed circuit boards
Lamp
Memristor
Obsolete:
Carbon amplifier (see Carbon microphones used as amplifiers)
Carbon arc (negative resistance device)
Dynamo (historic rf generator)
Standard abbreviations
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into reference designator. (Discuss)
It has been suggested that circuit diagram#European and Australian codes be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)
Component name abbreviations widely used in industry:
AE: aerial, antenna
B: battery
BR: bridge rectifier
C: capacitor
CRT:cathode ray tube
D or CR: diode
DSP:digital signal processor
F: fuse
FET:field effect transistor
GDT: gas discharge tube
IC: integrated circuit
J: wire link
JFET: junction gate field-effect transistor
L: inductor
LCD:Liquid crystal display
LDR: light dependent resistor
LED: light emitting diode
LS: speaker
M: motor
MCB: circuit breaker
Mic: microphone
MOSFET:Metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor
Ne: neon lamp
OP: Operational Amplifier
PCB: printed circuit board
PU: pickup
Q: transistor
R: resistor
RLA: RY: relay
SCR: silicon controlled rectifier
SW: switch
T: transformer
TFT:thin film transistor(display)
TH: thermistor
TP: test point
Tr: transistor
U: integrated circuit
V: valve (tube)
VC: variable capacitor
VFD: vacuum fluorescent display
VLSI:very large scale integration
VR: variable resistor
X: crystal, ceramic resonator
XMER: transformer
XTAL: crystal
Z: zener diode