Difference between revisions of "Electronics From Scratch is Easy"
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** play, fail, try again! | ** play, fail, try again! | ||
** hold on, this is taking too long -- back to the drawing board: we can do it with maths! | ** hold on, this is taking too long -- back to the drawing board: we can do it with maths! | ||
| + | |||
| + | Only after I've attained a visual and gut-level understanding of something, | ||
| + | only then is the math useful to me for refining it and adding all the details. | ||
| + | However, for me the math alone is not a genuine explanation. | ||
| + | Math is just a tool or a recipe, a crutch for those who want nothing | ||
| + | except the final numerical result, and it certainly does not confer expert knowledge. | ||
| + | |||
| + | William Beaty (1995) http://amasci.com/ele-edu.html | ||
| + | |||
| + | Components | ||
* resistance to current flow - resistors | * resistance to current flow - resistors | ||
* storage of charge - capacitors | * storage of charge - capacitors | ||
Revision as of 15:10, 24 January 2012
Workshop: Electronics From Scratch is Easy - a Nottingham Hackspace geek's introduction to electronics and why you can do it!
Many a geek has come to electronics late and thinks that there's just a bit that he/she doesn't get. The subject appears "hard". Why isn't it straightforward like software? Well, the good news is that it IS straightforward and all that is needed is a particular way of looking at things.
This stuff just works but why? An inquisitive mind.
- Electromagnetic phenomena
- why the correct words are important - a common understanding
- electrical charge - electrons!
- static electricity - making it, storing it, using it!
- a galvanometer!
- current - the "flow" of electrons
- conductivity
- electrical potential and voltage
The physics and mathematics of electromagnetic flux with Lorentz and Maxwell's equations (and why you can immediately forget this!)
- maths: too abstract?
- Euclidean/Greek viewpoint (a love of mathematics and the equations) vs. Babylonian viewpoint (a love of physics and the concepts)
- Lumped Matter Discipline
- moving from the realm of maths and physics to the realm of hands-on engineering
- we use components!
- Open the black box - take a look - close it forever!
- as long as we treat these things nicely, everything will work!
- play, fail, try again!
- hold on, this is taking too long -- back to the drawing board: we can do it with maths!
Only after I've attained a visual and gut-level understanding of something, only then is the math useful to me for refining it and adding all the details. However, for me the math alone is not a genuine explanation. Math is just a tool or a recipe, a crutch for those who want nothing except the final numerical result, and it certainly does not confer expert knowledge.
William Beaty (1995) http://amasci.com/ele-edu.html
Components
- resistance to current flow - resistors
- storage of charge - capacitors
- other forms of impedance and inductance (conversely, reactance!)
- silicon semiconductors - a diode!
- valves
- bipolar transistors
- building neat things
- logic circuits
- bigger and bigger systems
- ICs
- microcontrollers/SOCs/computers
- ferrite core memory
- supercomputers!
- ?????
- world domination!