Important Electronics Components!

To understand electronic components such as potentiometers, and clock crystal oscillators, you should familiarize yourself with the names and pictures of the components. If you know the name of a part, you can learn to use it in a few browses of the web. I will present the images of a handful of common electronic components that you should know by name and look.

1. THE RESISTOR (Resists flow of electrical current)

Blue resistors are usually 5-band resistors, which implies this resistor has a clear band for its 4th band from the left.

Standard 4-band resistor (they are usually tan, not grey)

Big resistor (values are printed directly on the component)

The most basic type: (tan) 4-band resistor

The rectangular prism resistor on the bottom is so big that the labels can be directly printed on it

2. THE CAPACITOR (Holds a momentary charge of electrical current)

Mixed Assortment of Capacitors 

Metallized polyester film capacitors

Aluminum electrolytic capacitors

Common electrolytic capacitors

A close-up shot of a ceramic disk capacitor

3. TRANSISTORS (they can function as a tiny, but powerful switch which is often used in logic circuits, and can also be used as an amplifier of current)

A bunch of J-FET transistors (Junction Field Effect Transistor)

TOP RIGHT: j-fet transistor
BOTTOM RIGHT: Aluminum capped transistor
 FAR LEFT: mosfet transistor

4. LED: Light Emitting Diodes ("Lights!")

An inside look at an LED

Some LEDs in the dark