A voltmeter, also known as a voltage meter, is an instrument used for measuring

the potential difference, or voltage, between two points in an electrical or electronic

circuit. Some voltmeters are intended for use in direct current (DC) circuits; others
are designed for alternating current (AC) circuits. Specialized voltmeters can
measure radio frequency (RF) voltage.
Voltmeters provide a way to safely measure the voltage, or the difference in electric
potential, between two points in a circuit while not changing the voltage in that
circuit. The capability to measure voltage is critical to designing and maintaining
advanced technology, but it also has more common and practical applications.
For example, suppose it's a hot day and you decide to cool off with a fan, but when
you plug it in and turn it on, nothing happens. Is the fan broken? Perhaps, but it is
possible that the outlet is not receiving electricity. A voltmeter could be used to
measure the voltage at the outlet, and if it is not around 120 volts (in the United
States) then the wall outlet could be broken.
Another instance where a voltmeter could be used is to determine if a battery is
charged or drained. When troubleshooting a car that will not start, measuring the
battery voltage with a voltmeter is a good place to begin.
Voltmeters that are made to measure dangerously high voltages, such as on
transmission lines, have large probes with extra electrical insulation between the
test points and the user in order to prevent the user from being shocked. Other
voltmeters are made to measure very low levels of voltage on very small objects
with intense precision, such as computer chips. Voltmeters for these applications
can be very small, and are specially designed to minimize or eliminate unwanted
noise from potential differences that exist in the air naturally, or due to nearby
electronics.

Ammeters, also known as ampmeters in some cases, are measuring instruments

that are used to measure the electric current in a circuit. The current measurements
are taken in amperes (A), and thus the name of the instrument; ammeters. There
are smaller units of readings namely milliamperes and microamperes, which are
measured by milliammeters and microammeters respectively.
Previously, ammeters were used in laboratories and relied on the Earths magnetic
field in order to be able to take readings of the current flowing through a circuit.
However, with improvements in technology, better ammeters were developed that
did not rely on the Earths magnetic field and could take readings in any position
providing accurate readings of the electrical power flowing through systems.
Ammeters are used to measure the flow of current through the wiring of newly
constructed buildings to ensure that the current is not too high or too low and has
the ability to power electrical devices within a safe range.
Ammeters should have very low resistance to ensure that a fair reading is taken and
the reading is not changed in anyway due to the ammeter being added to the

circuit. In order to not disrupt the flow of current within the circuit, ammeters are
usually connected to the circuit in series. The flow of current across a certain device
in the circuit can be measured when the ammeter is connected in a parallel
formation to that particular device.
Rheostat is an adjustable or variable resistor. It is used to control the electrical
resistance of a circuit without interrupting the flow of current. Rheostat has 3
terminals and usually consist of a resistive wire wrapped to form a toroid coil with a
wiper that slides along the surface of the coil. It is most often designed with a
ceramic core. Rheostats are used in applications that require high voltage and
current.
As a result of the reduction of size and power consumption in many of todays
electrical devices rheostats, once are very common item in commercial and
industrial products, have been replaced by potentiometers. However there are still
many applications that require a device that can be used to handle significant
power and for these applications a rheostat is a very good choice. The most
common uses today for rheostats are as light dimmers and motor speed controls.
They are often used in arc lamps, pumps, fans and blowers, respirators, dental and
medical equipment and model trains.
When selecting a rheostat for a particular application, current is usually a more
important factor than the wattage rating. If you are using a rheostat for motor
control it is important to know that all types of direct current motors can be speedcontrolled, however, only a few kinds of alternating current motors are controllable
therefore, it is essential to obtain the correct type of AC motor when speed control is
required. Most rheostats have either a round or flat shaft that allows you to attach a
knob to the rheostat. Some of the smaller sizes have screw-driver slots that allow
you to adjust the rheostat. Switches can be attached to a rheostat in order to open
the rheostat circuit or to access an independent circuit. Rheostats can be supplied
with a fixed or an adjustable stop limiting the angle rotation to any desired part of
the total possible rotation. Generally this style of rheostat is used in applications
where it is desired to leave a certain amount of resistance in the circuit at all times.

Capacitors are used in virtually every area of electronics, and they perform a
variety of different tasks. Although capacitors operate in the same way whatever
the capacitor application or use, there are several different uses for capacitors in
circuits.
In order to select the right kind of capacitor it is necessary to have an
understanding of the particular capacitor application so that its properties can be
matched to the given use to which it is to be put.
Each type of capacitor has its own attributes and this means that it will perform well
in a particulate capacitor use or application.

Choosing the right capacitor use for the right capacitor is all part of the design
process for a circuit. Using the wrong type of capacitor can easily mean that a
circuit will not work.
Capacitors can be used in a variety of different ways in electronics circuits. Although
their mode of operation remains exactly the same, the different capacitor types can
be used to provide a variety of different circuit functions.
Capacitors are components that are used to store an electrical charge and are used
in timer circuits. A capacitor may be used with a resistor to produce a timer.
Sometimes capacitors are used to smooth a current in a circuit as they can prevent
false triggering of other components such as relays. When power is supplied to a
circuit that includes a capacitor - the capacitor charges up. When power is turned off
the capacitor discharges its electrical charge slowly.
A capacitor is composed of two conductors separated by an insulating material
called a DIELECTRIC. The dielectric can be paper, plastic film, ceramic, air or a
vacuum. The plates can be aluminium discs, aluminium foil or a thin film of metal
applied to opposite sides of a solid dielectric. The CONDUCTOR - DIELECTRIC CONDUCTOR sandwich can be rolled into a cylinder or left flat

An electrical switch is any device used to interrupt the flow of electrons in a

circuit. Switches are essentially binary devices: they are either completely on
(closed) or completely off (open). There are many different types of switches,
and we will explore some of these types in this chapter.
Any switch designed to be operated by a person is generally called a hand switch,
and they are manufactured in several varieties:
Toggle switches are actuated by a lever angled in one of two or more positions. The
common light switch used in household wiring is an example of a toggle switch.
Most toggle switches will come to rest in any of their lever positions, while others
have an internal spring mechanism returning the lever to a certain normal position,
allowing for what is called momentary operation.
Pushbutton switches are two-position devices actuated with a button that is pressed
and released. Most pushbutton switches have an internal spring mechanism
returning the button to its out, or unpressed, position, for momentary operation.
Some pushbutton switches will latch alternately on or off with every push of the
button. Other pushbutton switches will stay in their in, or pressed, position until
the button is pulled back out. This last type of pushbutton switches usually have a
mushroom-shaped button for easy push-pull action.
Selector switches are actuated with a rotary knob or lever of some sort to select one
of two or more positions. Like the toggle switch, selector switches can either rest in
any of their positions or contain spring-return mechanisms for momentary
operation.

A joystick switch is actuated by a lever free to move in more than one axis of
motion. One or more of several switch contact mechanisms are actuated depending
on which way the lever is pushed, and sometimes by how far it is pushed.
Some switches are specifically designed to be operated by the motion of a machine
rather than by the hand of a human operator. These motion-operated switches are
commonly called limit switches, because they are often used to limit the motion of a
machine by turning off the actuating power to a component if it moves too far.

All batteries contain one or more cells, but people often use the terms battery and
cell interchangeably. A cell is just the working chemical unit inside a battery; one
battery can contain any number of cells. A cell has three main parts: a positive
electrode (terminal), a negative electrode, and a liquid or solid separating them
called the electrolyte. When a battery is connected to an electric circuit, a chemical
reaction takes place in the electrolyte causing ions (in this case, atoms with a
positive electrical charge) to flow through it one way, with electrons (particles with a
negative charge) flowing through the outer circuit in the other direction. This
movement of electric charge makes an electric current flow through the cell and
through the circuit it is connected to. It's important to note that the electrodes in a
battery are always made from two dissimilar materials (so never both from the
same metal, for example). This is the key to how and why a battery works: one of
the materials "likes" to give up electrons, the other likes to receive them. If both
electrodes were made from the same material, that wouldn't happen and no current
would flow.
The battery's positive terminal (shown just above my left thumb in the photo and
colored red in the artwork below) is connected to a positive electrode that's mostly
hidden inside the battery. We call this the cathode. The outer case and the bottom
of the battery make up the negative terminal, or negative electrode, which is also
called the anode and colored green in the artwork. The paperclip wire is represented
in the art by the blue line.

The function of connecting wires is allowing currency to flow through in order to

have a complete circuit connects current. Connecting wires could have many
different functions depending on what they are connected to. They could be
responsible for operating a homes lighting or a cars engine. A metallic strand or rod,
pliable or stiff, used to conduct electricity. Sometimes electrically insulated,
sometimes bare. Made in many lengths and diameters. The copper wires used
connect. Because conductivity of Cooper higher than aluminium but price of Cooper
higher than aluminum. If compare between copper and aluminium cable can see at
the same current rate diameter of aluminium cable is larger than copper cable.
Consider a connecting wire to be, when you have power coming into a box and
leaving, the neutrals, and hots are tied together, then a connecting wire is added to
wire to the outlet. Anytime wires are put together, but one is added as a branch off
of the wires tied together. Most times the wires just get attached to the outlet, but

you must use a connecting wire for the ground to go the outlet and one goes to the
box, unless it is a plastic box. You should not really just wrap the ground around the
ground screw and then to the outlet, it should have two connecting wires added to
the ground where both are connected together, if there are two sets of romex, one
entering and one leaving.
When we draw wires connecting points in a circuit, we usually assume those wires
have negligible resistance. As such, they contribute no appreciable effect to the
overall resistance of the circuit, and so the only resistance we have to contend with
is the resistance in the components. In the above circuits, the only resistance comes
from the 5 resistors, so that is all we will consider in our calculations. In real life,
metal wires actually do have resistance (and so do power sources!), but those
resistances are generally so much smaller than the resistance present in the other
circuit components that they can be safely ignored. Exceptions to this rule exist in
power system wiring, where even very small amounts of conductor resistance can
create significant voltage drops given normal (high) levels of current.