Introduction to Electronics

WHAT IS MATTER(And why does it matter?)

Throughout mankind, we have tried to explain the things we see around us. This is probably what
sets us apart from the apes more than anything else. While other animals are simply content with the
fact that a rock is a rock and a tree is a tree, we as humans must investigate and find out WHY a tree
grows, and HOW was this rock formed? At first, man broke things down into various groups.

Along the way someone found they could be broken down into 3 groups: Animal, Vegetable, and
Mineral. This worked fine for monkeys, which were animal, and trees which were vegetable. Rocks
of course must be mineral. But what is coal? It used to be a vegetable until it was compressed over
time. Now it is a mineral?

Another way of classifying things was found: Solids, Liquids and Gases. This was clearly easy to
define. All substances could be simply looked at, and determined whether it was a solid or not. Ice is
a solid. Water is a liquid. Steam would be considered a gas. So what then is sunlight? What is
magnetism? What is electricity?

Benjamin Franklin concluded from his many

experiments, that electricity had certain properties,
such as pressure, current. He further concluded that
it’s movement was predictable, like the pouring of
water from one glass to another. From his
conclusions, it was conventionally assumed that while
we might not be able to SEE electricity at work, we
could see it’s effects. And electricity, like unto water,
acted like a fluid in every sense of the word.
So again we pose the question, "What is MATTER?"
And we answer the question as follows: Matter is the
stuff around us.
Scientifically we define matter as all the "material"
things about us. Matter includes all natural and man-
made structures, liquids, metals, gases, etc.; in other
words, everything that has weight and occupies space.

All matter then takes up space. And anything that

takes up space can be broken down into smaller
pieces. A solid block of wood may be cut into smaller
pieces until it is toothpicks, splinters, even sawdust. A
gallon of water can be broken down into quarts, cups,
even drops. But there comes a point where it can be broken down no longer and still retain it’s basic
properties. In other words, there is a point where water can get no smaller, and still be water. That
point is called the MOLECULE.

Atoms and the Definition of Electricity

We know that molecules exist, as some can be seen through an electron
microscope. They look like clusters of yet smaller particles.But if the molecule
is the smallest point that we can break our (example) water down to, and it
still retain it’s basic properties (remain water), how can it have smaller
particles?

If we take water, and break it down through electrolysis, we find that water is
made up of 2 chemicals or ELEMENTS :

hydrogen and oxygen.

Elements are arranged by their basic properties, as being metals, etc. on a

chart known as the periodic table of the elements. When I went to school, all
matter, regardless of size or state, could be broken down into approximately
105 different elements. Since then, more elements have been discovered, and
will continue to be discovered.

Some of the more common elements are carbon, copper, oxygen and
aluminum. Elements may exist alone, or they may exist in clusters, or
molecules, along with other elements. For example, a piece of copper wire is
solely made up of the element copper. By comparison, water is a combination
of two different elements: oxygen and hydrogen.

An element can be broken down into even smaller particles, called atoms. An
atom is the smallest unit into which an element can be broken down and still
retain its original characteristics. An atom resembles a little solar system. The
center of this solar system, called the NUCLEUS , is made up of parts known
as PROTONS and NEUTRONS . Around the NUCLEUS, tiny little particles
are constantly rotating in an orbit. We
call these particles ELECTRONS

Fig. 1-1 illustrates and atom of helium.

Note that it contains 2 electrons, 2
protons and 2 neutrons.

The atom is far too small to be seen, even

with the aid of the most powerful
microscope. However, we do have a vast
amount of knowledge about the atom
and its inner parts. The proton differs
both electrically and physically. Electrically, the proton is POSITIVELY
CHARGED , and is about 1850 times heavier than the electron. The orbiting
electron, on the other hand, is much lighter, and is said to be NEGATIVELY
CHARGED . The neutron can effectively be thought of as consisting of both a
proton and an electron. It has the same approximate weight as the proton,
however, it is neutral in charge. This is because the positive charge of the
proton cancels out the negative charge of the electron.

Now atoms are not always so simple as the Helium atom discussed above.
They always have the same parts, but not always in the same amounts or
configurations. Atoms with more protons and electrons, of course, must be
larger and heavier. Under normal circumstances, Atoms seek to be neutral in
charge, and so will have an equal amount of electrons and protons. So if an
atom like copper, has 29 protons in its center, it will also have 29 electrons.

Because these electrons are rotating in an orbit, having too many electrons in
a given orbit could cause them to crash into each other. So mother nature
placed them in different orbits on different levels. We call them layers or
rings. Depending on which ring we are discussing, each ring has a maximum
amount of electrons which it can hold, without having to form another ring.
For instance, the first ring can only hold 2 electrons. So if we have an atom
with 3 protons, (As in the case of Lithium) it must also have 3 electrons. Since
it can only hold 2 electrons in the number 1 ring, it is forced to create a second
ring, with only 1 electron in it. In the case of Lithium, this 1 electron is said to
exist in the outer ring, or the VALENCE RING

In Electronics, we are mainly concerned with this VALENCE RING, because

it is here that the magic of Electronics takes place. If a given ring is shy of
being full, it wants to “borrow” an electron from somewhere else. If an atom
has one too many electrons, it pushes the “extra” electron way out on a ring of
it’s own, and tries to “loan” it to another atom.

Electronics, in its purest form, is the study of the movement of electrons from
one atom to another. Usually, this takes place by borrowing and loaning
(temporarily) of electrons. While we can not actually see this going on, we can
monitor it’s effects, which can be amazing!

The Law of Electromagnetic charges:

Most objects, such as a piece of cork normally have a neutral or zero charge;
that is, they contain as many electrons as they do protons. If a piece of cork
could be made to have an excess of electrons, it would become negatively
charged. On the other hand, if the cork were to be made to have a deficiency
of electrons, then we would have an excess of protons, and it would then be
positively charged.

If we take any positively charged body, and bring it near a negatively charged
body, the two bodies will be drawn together. If on the other hand, the two
objects have like charges, then they will repel each other. These two reactions
form the basis of the first law of electricity, known as
The Law of Electromagnetic Charges.

The law states: Like charges repel, and unlike charges attract.

Differences of Potential:

If we connect a copper wire between two oppositely charged bodies, an

electron flow would result. Electrons will flow from the negatively charged
body to the positively charged body. This is because it is a basic law of nature
that CHARGED BODIES SEEK TO BECOME NEUTRAL . What happens
here, is that the positively charged body,which has a deficiency of electrons,
attracts the excess of electrons from the negatively charged body. This action
continues until the deficiency and excess of electrons disappeared and the two
bodies become neutral.

Any difference in charge between two objects will result in the development of
a
DIFFERENCE OF POTENTIAL between them. We call this difference of
potential
ELECTRICAL PRESSURE , or VOLTAGE .

For more info visit

http://www.electronicstheory.com/html/e101-
2.htm