243.BB Electronics: Computers and Networks

20 terms

Hi, my name is Silyphong and my field of study is Electronics: Computers and Networks. I've been in this program for two semesters and this glossary is for those who is interested in electronics. This will help understand words that you will encounter in the future which will make the work easier. This glossary will contain 20 terms that will be explained by definition that I learned in classes and google.

alternating current
An electric current that reverses its direction many times a second at regular intervals, typically used in power supplies.
bios
A set of computer instructions in firmware which control input and output operations.
brazing
Brazing is electronic soldering, basically metal-joining to fix a component on another component or on a circuit board.
charge
Quantity of electrical energy.
circuit board
A thin rigid board containing an electric circuit; a printed circuit. This makes connection to other components.
comparator
An op-amp circuit that compares two inputs and provides a DC output indicating the polarity relationship between the inputs.
components electrical
An electronic component is any basic discrete device or physical entity in an electronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. ... Electronic components have a number of electrical terminals or leads.
cpu
CPU (pronounced as separate letters) is the abbreviation for central processing unit. Sometimes referred to simply as the central processor, but more commonly called a processor, the CPU is the brains of the computer where most calculations take place.
direct current
An electric current flowing in one direction only.
electrical current
An electric current is the rate of flow of electric charge past a point or region. An electric current is said to exist when there is a net flow of electric charge through a region. In electric circuits this charge is often carried by electrons moving through a wire.
engineering notation
A floating-point system in which numbers are expressed as products consisting of a number greater than one multiplied by an appropriate power of ten that is some multiple of three.
ground
An intentional or accidental conducting path between an electrical system or circuit and the earth or some conducting body acting in place of the earth. A ground is often used as the common wiring point or reference in a circuit.
kirchhoff's current law
The sum of the currents flowing into a point in a circuit is equal to the sum of the currents flowing out of that same points.
kirchhoff's voltage law
The algebraic sum of the voltage drops in a closed path circuit is equal to the algebraic sum of the source voltages applied.
potentiometer
A variable resistor with three terminals. Mechanical turning of a shaft can be used to produce variable resistance and potential. Example: A volume control is usually a potentiometer.
programming
The action or process of writing computer programs. Writing code to create by example a game or to create an app.
resistance
Resistance is an electrical quantity that measures how the device or material reduces the electric current flow through it. The resistance is measured in units of ohms (?).
thévenin's theorem
Theorem that replaces any complex network with a single voltage source in series with a single resistance.
voltage
Voltage is the pressure from an electrical circuit's power source that pushes charged electrons (current) through a conducting loop, enabling them to do work such as illuminating a light. In brief, voltage = pressure, and it is measured in volts (V). ... Current returns to the power source.
voltage amplifier
Amplifier designed to build up signal voltage. By design amplifiers can have a large voltage gain or a large current gain or a large power gain. Voltage amplifiers are designed to maximize voltage gain often at the expense of current gain or power gain.