Introductory Electronics

Electrons are emitted from the filament through a process called thermionic emission.
The electrons gain energy as the filaments heats up due to the passing of a high
potential difference, and when they gain a certain amount of energy, the electrons can
jump to a higher level, resulting in emission. The particles were revealed to be
negatively charged when they were deflected by an electric field, and were later named
as electrons.

Cathode-ray oscilloscope: This device makes use of the thermionic emission of

electrons. The electrons are emitted from the negatively charged cathode, and are thus
called the cathode-ray. It contains a vacuum so that air doesn’t hamper the motion of
the very light electrons. It consists of 3 components:

1. The electron gun: It produces a fine beam of electrons, known as the cathode-
ray.

2. The deflecting plates: Electrons are deflected by both electric and magnetic
fields. Electrons are deflected towards the positively-charged plate and deflection
is very rapid as they are light in mass. When in the presence of a magnetic field,
the electrons are deflected towards the North Pole in a circular path, the
direction of which is found using Fleming’s Left Hand Rule.
Two pairs of plates are placed in the CRO. Voltages are applied across these
plates to deflect the electron beam. The ‘Y’ plate causes deflection in the vertical
direction. The vertical deflection is directly proportional to the voltage applied
across the plate. If an AC voltage is applied across this plate, a bright vertical line
will be observed.
The ‘X’ plate causes the cathode ray to be deflected horizontally from left to right
at a constant speed. A saw-tooth AC voltage is applied to this plate. Horizontal
displacement of the beam is directly proportional to time.

3. The fluorescent screen: It is coated with a fluorescent salt, e.g. zinc sulphide.
When the electrons hit the screen, the salt produces a flash of light and hence a
bright spot on the screen.
Relay circuits: These make use of magnetism. Relay circuits are used to switch on a
high-voltage dangerous circuit indirectly, with the help of another low-voltage
circuit. When current passes through the low-voltage circuit, it produces a magnetic
field, which pulls a soft iron armature towards the high-voltage circuit. During this,
the switch of the high-voltage circuit is put in place, resulting in a complete circuit
and thus the flow of current in the high-voltage circuit.

Color codes of resistors: There are usually 2 different types of resistors in relation to
color coding:

1. Four-band: The first two numbers are digits according to the color code. The third
one is the multiplier, and fourth one if the % tolerance.
2. Five-band: The first three numbers are digits. The fourth one is the multiplier
while the fifth one is the % tolerance.

Example – 1: Yellow Violet Orange Gold (Four Band)

Resistance = 47 x 103 Ohms with a tolerance of 5%

Example – 2: Brown Green Grey Silver Red (Five Band)

Resistance = 158 x 10-2 Ohms with a tolerance of 2%