In this tutorial, we provide the very basic fundamentals and also give you a thorough understanding of the principles and operation of electronic components and devices. This means, as a beginner, you don’t need prior knowledge about electronics to follow along.

We will cover the basics of electricity and a few terminologies and then we’ll move on to simple, intermediate and advanced electronic components and circuits. The electronic components that we’ll learn about in these tutorials will be used to build simple circuits and projects, this way as a beginner you will be able to know how to apply and use them in real life.

Before we embark on this course, I’ll advise you to buy a starter kit with a few basic electronic components to help you build your own circuits and projects as you follow along with the tutorial series. Alternatively, you could use simulation software such as Proteus Design Suite,  NI-Multisim, or EasyEDA, but either way, you’ll get to learn a great deal about electronics.

 

These articles will help you learn how to download and install circuit simulation software on your machines:

 

 

In this introductory course to Electronics, we are going to cover the following topics:

Lesson 1:  Electricity and how it works

In this tutorial, we cover the basics of Electricity and how it works and we’ll mainly concentrate on current electricity i.e. what powers our gadgets. Our main intention here is to understand how electricity flows from a power source through wires, spinning motors, and powering our gadgets.

Lesson 2:  Circuit Basics – Open Vs Closed

In this tutorial, we cover the basics of an electric circuit in greater detail. We’ll understand what voltage is and how it works and we’ll also look at the two special cases of electric circuits ie. short and open circuits.

Lesson 3:  Current – AC Vs DC

In this tutorial, we look at the two forms of conveying electric power from one point to another ie Alternating Current (AC) and Direct Current (DC) and we’ll also cover how the two forms (AC and DC) are generated and their respective applications in our day-to-day lives.

Lesson 4:  Resistance, Voltage, Current & Ohm’s Law

In this tutorial, we explore the basics of Voltage, Current, and Resistance and how they relate to each other using Ohm’s Law (the basis for the analysis of any electric circuit.). These are the 3 main building blocks that are required to manipulate and fully utilize electricity.

Lesson 5:  Resistors

In this tutorial, we look at Resistors, what they’re, the units of resistance, the schematic symbol for resistors on a simulated electric circuit, the different types of resistors, how to read resistor values, how to connect resistors in series and parallel, and finally the different applications of resistors.

Lesson 6:  Capacitor Basics

In this tutorial, we look at Capacitors in greater detail, we cover how capacitors are made, how they work, the units of capacitance, the different types of capacitors, how they connect in series and parallel configurations, and their common applications in our day-to-day lives…

Lesson 7:  Series and Parallel Circuits

In this tutorial, we look at the two circuit configurations that is, circuits connected in series and circuits connected in parallel. We’ll see how they differ from one another using simple circuits containing the most basic of components, resistors, capacitors, inductors and batteries and also explore what happens when all these components are combined together…

Lesson 8:  How to use a Multimeter – (Continuity, Resistance, Current & Voltage)

In this tutorial, we learn about how to use a digital multimeter (DMM), an essential tool that is used to diagnose and troubleshoot circuits, capable of measuring multiple things related to electricity such as voltage, current, resistance, continuity, capacitance and so on…

Lesson 9:  Buttons and Switches

In this tutorial, we will look at one of the most basic components that we encounter everyday in our day-to-day lives, the switch. We’ll cover the defining characteristics of switches, the difference between monetary and maintained switches, the internal circuitry arrangement of switches that is, what SPST, SPDT and DPDT mean and some examples of switches and the obvious switch applications…

Lesson 10:  Battery Technologies

In this tutorial, we’ll learn about the different battery technologies out there but much emphasis will be put on the most often used batteries for our DIY mechatronics projects. We’ll cover a few battery terminologies often used while working with batteries, their connectors and how they’re charged and discharged…

Lesson 11:  How to use a Breadboard

In this tutorial, we will look at one of the most fundamental component that is a must have for every electronics student (beginner), the breadboard. We’ll look at its anatomy, how it works, the different types of breadboards, how power is supplied to it, how to use it for prototyping and we’ll also build our first breadboard circuit.

Lesson 12:  Power

Lesson 13:  Diodes

Lesson 14:  LEDs

Lesson 15:  Relays

Lesson 16:  Potentiometers

Lesson 17:  Operational Amplifiers (Op-Amps)

Lesson 18:  Seven Segment Displays

Lesson 19:  Integrated Circuits ICs

Lesson 20:  Transistors – PNP & NPN – BJTs

Lesson 21:  Schematics

Lesson 22:  Circuit design and measurement