Beginners Guide

Beginners Guide to Electronics by Martin T. Pickering Last updated on November 23, 2008 This book gives simplified explanations of how some electronic components work in a circuit. I first became interested in electronics when I was age 10 (as long ago as 1961). ©2008 Martin T. What's the Difference between A.C. and D.C.? How does a Resistor Work? All the colours for 5% tolerance resistors: How do Diodes Work? How do Transistors Work? Abbreviations Although we use the Greek symbol Omega W to represent “Ohms” it is frequently written as “R”. How does a Capacitor Work? What does a capacitor look like? How do Inductors Work? The Relay Bread Board and building a LED Flasher Building the LED Flasher Astable Multivibrator using two transistors

Smart Materials Welcome to this interactive handbook on Smart materials for designers, it should be your key to many new and exciting products that will be possible only if you use Smart materials. Using a simple table at the bottom of this page, explore the options. However, you are probably wondering what are Smart materials, how do they work and what can I do with them? Take a look round and let your imagination runs free over the possibilities. What are smart materials? This sounds a simple question but is not that easy to answer beyond the obvious, and really not too helpful statement "a material that displays smart behaviour". Smart behaviour occurs when a material can sense a stimulus from its environment and react to it in a useful, reliable, reproducible and usually reversible manner. SMART materials in Products To further explain, an example material from familiar items would help. How to use this guide? Explanation of Traffic light System The information appear in a new window each time.

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