INDUSTRIAL

ELECTRONICS
ELECTRONIC
EXPERIMENTS
TRANSFORMS ANY STANDARD
BREADBOARD INTO AN ELECTRONIC
LEARNING CENTER!

Perform 15
Experiments!
Build an Electronic Key-
board, Electronic Kazoo,
Battery Tester, Finger
Touch Lamp, Burglar and
Water Alarms, a Siren, a
Magnetic Bridge, and a
whole lot more! No
soldering or tools required,
all parts are included!
(Requires a breadboard and
a 9V battery or power supply.)
In this booklet you will learn:
• The basic principles of electronics.
• How to build circuits using a breadboard.
• How all of the basic electronic components work and how to read their values.
• How to read electronic schematics.
• How to design and troubleshoot basic electronic circuits.
• How to change the performance of electronic circuits by changing component values within the circuit.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Parts List

Introduction to Basic Components

Introduction to Transistors
Experiment #1: The Electronic Switch
Experiment #2: Standard Transistor Biasing
Circuit
Experiment #3: The One Finger Touch Lamp
Experiment #4: The Voltmeter
Experiment #5: The Battery Immunizer
Introduction to Inductors and Transformers Test
Your Knowledge #2
Experiment #6: The Magnetic Bridge
Experiment #7: The Lighthouse
Experiment #8: Electronic Sound
Experiment #9: The Alarm
Experiment #10: Siren
Experiment #11: Electronic Noisemaker
Experiment #12: Blinking Lights
Experiment #13: Noisy Blinker
Experiment #14: Alarm With Shut - Off Timer
Experiment #15: Finger Touch Lamp With
Memory

Test Your Knowledge #3

Troubleshooting Guide
Definition of Terms

39

THE EXPERIMENTS IN THIS BOOKLET REQUIRE A BREADBOARD OR

2
PARTS LIST
Quantity Part Number Description
r1 134700 470Ω Resistor, 0.25W
r1 141000 1kΩ Resistor, 0.25W
r1 143300 3.3kΩ Resistor, 0.25W
r1 151000 10kΩ Resistor, 0.25W
r1 153300 33kΩ Resistor, 0.25W
r1 161000 100kΩ Resistor, 0.25W
r1 171000 1MΩ Resistor, 0.25W
r1 191549 50kΩ Variable Resistor, lay-down, with dial
r1 235018 0.005μF Disc Capacitor
r1 244780 0.047μF Disc Capacitor
r1 271045 10μF Electrolytic Capacitor
r1 281044 100μF Electrolytic Capacitor
r1 314148 Diode, 1N4148
r3 323904 Transistor, NPN, 2N3904
r2 350002 Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
r1 442100 Transformer
r1 540100 Switch, push-button
r1 590098 9V Battery Clip
r1 590102 Speaker, 8Ω, 0.25 Watt, with wires added
r1 - Wires Bag

3
INTRODUCTION TO BASIC COMPONENTS
Welcome to the exciting world of Electronics! Before starting the first experiment, let’s learn about some of the basic
electronic components. Electricity is a flow of sub-atomic (very, very, very, small) particles, called electrons. The
electrons move from atom to atom when an electrical charge is applied across the material. Electronics will be easier to
understand if you think of the flow of electricity through circuits as water flowing through pipes (this will be referred to as
the water pipe analogy).

Wires: Wires can be thought of as large, smooth pipes that allow water to pass through easily. Wires are made of metals,
usually copper, that offer very low resistance to the flow of electricity. When wires from different parts of a circuit connect
accidentally we have a short circuit or simply a short. You probably know from the movies that this usually means trouble.
You must always make sure that the metal from different wires never touches except at springs where the wires are
connecting to each other. The electric current, expressed in amperes (A, named after Andre Ampere who studied the
relationship between electricity and magnetism) or milliamps (mA, 1/1000 of an ampere), is a measure of how fast
electrons are flowing in a wire just as a water current describes how fast water is flowing in a pipe.
PIPE WIRE

Batteries and Generators: To make water flow through a pipe we need a pump. To make electricity flow through wires,
we use a battery or a generator to create an electrical charge across the wires. A battery does this by using a chemical
reaction and has the advantage of being simple, small, and portable. If you move a magnet near a wire then electricity will
flow in the wire. This is done in a generator. The electric power companies have enormous generators driven by steam or
water pressure to produce electricity for your home.

The voltage, expressed in volts (V, and named after Alessandro Volta who invented the battery in 1800), is a measure of
how strong the electric charge from your battery or generator is, similar to the water pressure. Your PK-101 may be used
with either a 9V battery or the adjustable power supply that is part of the XK-150, XK-550, and XK-700 Trainers. A power
supply converts the electricity from your electric company into a simple form that can be used in your PK-101. If using the
power supply, then adjust it for 9V. (This manual will usually refer to the battery, this is also meant to refer to the 9V power
supply if you are using that instead). Notice the “+” and “–” signs on the battery. These indicate which direction the battery
will “pump” the electricity, similarly to how a water pump can only pump water in one direction. The 0V or “–” side of the
battery is often referred to as “ground”. Notice that just to the right of the battery pictured below is a symbol, the same
symbol you see next to the battery holder. Engineers are not very good at drawing pictures of their parts, so when
engineers draw pictures of their circuits they use symbols like this to represent them. It also takes less time to draw and
takes up less space on the page. Note that wires are represented simply by lines on the page.

WATER PUMP BATTERY Symbol for BATTERY

9V

The Switch: Since you don’t want to waste water when you are not using it, you have a faucet or valve to turn the water
on and off. Similarly, you use a switch to turn the electricity on and off in your circuit. A switch connects (the “closed” or
“on” position) or disconnects (the “open” or “off” position) the wires in your circuit. As with the battery, the switch is
represented by a symbol, shown below on the right.
VALVE SWITCH Symbol for SWITCH

You have been given one of the two above switches.

4
The Resistor: Why is the water pipe that goes to your kitchen faucet smaller than the one that comes to your house from
the water company? And why is it much smaller than the main water line that supplies water to your entire town? Because
you don’t need so much water. The pipe size limits the water flow to what you actually need. Electricity works in a similar
manner, except that wires have so little resistance that they would have to be very, very thin to limit the flow of electricity.
They would be hard to handle and break easily. But the water flow through a large pipe could also be limited by filling a
section of the pipe with rocks (a thin screen would keep the rocks from falling over), which would slow the flow of water but
not stop it. Resistors are like rocks for electricity, they control how much electric current flows. The resistance, expressed
in ohms (Ω, named after George Ohm), kilohms (kΩ, 1,000 ohms), or megohms (MΩ, 1,000,000 ohms) is a measure of
how much a resistor resists the flow of electricity. To increase the water flow through a pipe you can increase the water
pressure or use less rocks. To increase the electric current in a circuit you can increase the voltage or use a lower value
resistor (this will be demonstrated in a moment). The symbol for the resistor is shown on the right.
ROCKS IN THE PIPE RESISTOR Symbol for RESISTOR

“LEADS” for connecting

Your Breadboard: Breadboards are used for mounting electronic components and to make connecting them together
easy, and are similar to the printed circuits boards used in most electronic devices. Breadboards make it easy to add and
remove components. Your breadboard has 830 holes arranged into rows and columns (some models may have more or
less holes but will be arranged the same way):

BREADBOARD

5
The holes are connected together as follows:
• There are many columns of 5 holes each. The 5 holes within each column are electrically connected together, but the
columns are not electrically connected to each other. This makes 126 columns of 5 holes each. Note that “electrically
connected together” means that there is a wire within the breadboard connecting the 5 holes.
• All holes in the rows marked with a blue “–” or a red “+” are electrically connected together, but none of these rows are
electrically connected to each other. This makes 6 rows of 100 holes. The red “+” holes will usually be used for your “+”
battery or power supply connections and the blue “–” holes will usually be used for your ground (“–” battery or power
supply) connections.

BREADBOARD CONNECTIONS

Inserting Parts into the Breadboard: To insert components into the breadboard, keep their pins straight and gently push
into the holes. If the pins get bent and become difficult to insert, they can be straightened with a pliers. Always make sure
components do not touch each other.

INSERTING PARTS

Electrolytic capacitors have a positive

and a negative electrode. The negative
lead is indicated on the packaging by a
stripe with minus signs and possibly
arrowheads.

Warning:
If the capacitor is
connected with
incorrect polarity,
Polarity
it may heat up and
Marking
either leak, or
cause the
capacitor to
explode.

6
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE #1
1. __________ are the particles that flow between atoms as part of an electric current.

2. A __________ circuit occurs when wires or components from different parts of the circuit accidentally connect.

3. A __________ produces electricity using a chemical reaction.

4. To decrease the current in a circuit you may decrease the voltage or __________ the resistance.

5. Materials which have very high resistance are called __________ and materials which have very low resistance are
called __________.

6. Adding resistors in parallel __________ the resistance while adding resistors in series _________ the resistance.

7. The electrical resistance of water __________ when salt is dissolved in it.

8. Capacitors are components that can store __________ for periods of time.

9. Capacitors have low resistance to __________ current and high resistance to __________ current.

10. Adding capacitors in parallel __________ the capacitance while adding capacitors in series __________ the
capacitance.

(Answers are on page 3)

INTRODUCTION TO DIODES
The Diode: The diode is an electronic device that allows current to flow in only one direction. In our water pipe analogy it
may be thought of as the check valve shown here:

Water-Tight Pivot

Spring
Movable Plate
Solid Stop

The check valve only allows water to flow in one direction, to the right in this drawing. There is a small spring and if the
water pressure exceeds a certain level then the spring will be stretched and the valve opened. If the pressure is to flow to
the left then the plate will be pressed against the solid stop and no water will flow.
Electronic diodes are made from materials called semiconductors, so-called because they have more resistance than
metal conductors but less than insulators. Most semiconductors are made of Silicon but Gallium Arsenide and Germanium
are also used. Their key advantage is that by using special manufacturing processes their resistance is decreased under
certain operating conditions. The manufacturing processes create two regions of permanent electrical charge, quite
different from charging a capacitor. While the physics of how this works is quite complicated, the effect is that once the
voltage across the diode exceeds a small turn-on level (0.7V for Silicon) the resistance of the diode becomes very low in
one direction (so low in fact that the current flow must be limited by other resistances in the circuit to prevent damage to
the diode). When the diode is turned on like this we refer to it as being forward-biased. In the other direction the diode
is always a very high resistance, we call this reverse-biased. The schematic symbol, shown below, indicates that the diode
will allow current to flow from left to right but block current flow from right to left.

DIODE Symbol for DIODE

7
INTRODUCTION TO TRANSISTORS
The Transistor: The transistor was first developed in 1949 at Bell Telephone Laboratories, the name being derived from
“transfer resistor”. It has since transformed the world. Did you ever hear of something called a vacuum tube? They are
large and can be found in old electronic equipment and in museums. They are seldom used today and few engineers even
study them now. They were replaced by transistors, which are much smaller and more reliable.
The transistor is best described as a current amplifier - it uses a small amount of current to control a large amount of
current. There are many different families of transistors but we will only discuss the type included in your PK-101, called
the NPN Bipolar Junction Transistor or BJT and made of the semiconductor silicon. It has three connection points, called
the emitter, base, and collector.
In our water pipe analogy the BJT may be thought of as the lever pivot shown here:

Notice that it includes a check valve that is connected to a lever arm. A small amount of “base current” pushes on the check
valve which turns and opens the lever arm. But before this base current can start to flow though it must have enough water
pressure to overcome the spring in the check valve (usually 0.7V). If the base pipe is much smaller than the collector and
emitter pipes, then a small base current IB flowing in will cause a large collector current IC to flow in, these will combine
and exit the device as emitter current IE.
In transistors the emitter, base, and collector are different regions of permanent electrical charge, producing the effects
described above for the lever pivot. The properties and uses of transistors may seem confusing at first but will become
clear as you proceed through the experiments. All but one of the remaining experiments will use the transistor, so its
importance to electronics should be apparent.
A key advantage of semiconductors is that several transistors can be manufactured on a single piece of silicon. This led
to the development of Integrated Circuit (IC) technology, in which careful control of complex manufacturing processes has
enabled entire circuits consisting of transistors, diodes, resistors, and capacitors to be constructed on a silicon base. Some
ICs used in computers now have more than a million transistors on them. Spectacular improvements in cost, size, and
reliability have been achieved as a result.
The schematic symbol for a transistor is shown below:

TRANSISTOR Symbol for NPN TRANSISTOR

COLLECTOR

Flat BASE

EMITTER

Note the small arrow in the emitter, this indicates which direction the current will flow through the device.

8
EXPERIMENT #1: THE ELECTRONIC SWITCH
Your PK-101 includes three transistors which are all type 2N3904 NPN Bipolar Junction Transistors. Connect the circuit
according to the schematic and Wiring Diagram. Although there is a closed circuit with the battery, 1kΩ, LED, and
transistor, no current will flow since the transistor is acting like an open circuit (with no base current the lever arm remains
shut). Press the switch; a base current now flows and opens the lever arm, resulting in a large collector current which lights
the LED. The transistor is being used as an electronic switch. Although there is still a normal switch in this circuit, there
could be many electronic switches controlled by one normal switch.

+9V 1k TRANSISTOR
Ω
(Note position
of flat side)

10kΩ

(flat side is
on left)

EXPERIMENT #15: THE CURRENT AMPLIFIER

Connect the circuit and press the switch. The right LED in the collector path is brighter than the left LED in the base path
because the base current is amplified by the transistor. The current gain of a transistor varies anywhere from 10 to 1,000
depending on the type of transistor, the ones in your PK-101 have a gain of about 200.
Note that the battery voltage and circuit resistance will limit the current gain. For example, if you replace the 1kΩ in this
circuit with a 33kΩ then the current gain will only be about 3. The circuit resistances, not transistor itself, are limiting the
current and the transistor is said to be saturated.

+9V 1kΩ

TRANSISTOR
(Note position
of flat side)

100kΩ

(note how the

LED flat sides are
positioned)

9
EXPERIMENT #2: STANDARD TRANSISTOR BIASING CIRCUIT
Connect the circuit and press the switch while turning the variable resistor from right to left (from 0Ω to 50kΩ). The 100kΩ
and variable 50kΩ are a voltage divider that sets the voltage at the transistor base. If this voltage is less than 0.7V then
the transistor will be off and no current will flow through the LED. As the base voltage increases above 0.7V a small base
current starts to flow, which is amplified to produce a larger collector current that lights the LED. As the base voltage
continues to increase the transistor becomes saturated and the LED brightness will not increase further.
This circuit will normally be used with the voltage divider set so that the transistor is turned on but is not saturated. Although
this circuit does not have many applications by itself, when a small alternating current (AC) signal is applied to the base
then a larger copy of the signal will appear at the collector - a small-signal amplifier!

+9V 3.3kΩ

100kΩ
1kΩ

50kΩ
VARIABLE
RESISTOR

10
EXPERIMENT #3: VERY SLOW LIGHT BULB
Connect the circuit and press the switch, hold it down for several seconds. The LED will slowly light up. Release the switch
and the LED will slowly go dark.
When you first press the switch all of the current flowing through the 100kΩ resistor goes to charge up the capacitor, the
transistor and LED will be off. When the capacitor voltage rises to 0.7V the transistor will first turn on and the LED will turn
on. As the capacitor voltage continues to rise the current flow through the 470Ω resistor and into the transistor base will
increase. The current through the LED will then rise rapidly due to the transistor’s current gain.
When the switch is released the capacitor will discharge through the 470Ω resistor and the transistor base, the LED will
dim as this discharge current decreases. When the capacitor voltage drops below 0.7V the transistor will turn off. If you
get impatient you may touch a wire between the two capacitor springs to discharge it instantly.
Do you know how to change the capacitor charge and discharge times? The 100kΩ resistor controls the charge time, the
470Ω controls the discharge, and the capacitor controls both the charge and discharge. Replace these parts with some
different values and observe the effects.
Compare this circuit to the one you used in Experiment 8 when we first introduced the capacitor. By adding a transistor
you can use a large resistor for a slow charge time and still have a bright LED!

+9V 3.3kΩ

100kΩ

470Ω

+
100μF

11
EXPERIMENT #4: THE ONE FINGER TOUCH LAMP
Actually, the touch lamps you see in stores only need to be touched by one finger to light, not two. So let’s see if we can
improve the last circuit to only need one finger. Connect the circuit, the only changes from the last experiment are the
addition of the 1kΩ and 10kΩ resistors. These two resistors plug into adjacent (but not connected) holes g10 and g11.
Wet a large area of one of your fingers and touch it to the resistor metal coming out of these two holes at the same time;
the LED lights. To make it easier for one finger to touch the two contacts, touch lamps or other touch devices will have the
metal contacts interweaved as shown below and will also be more sensitive so that you don’t have to wet your finger to
make good contact.

BATTERY TRANSISTOR
CONNECTION CONNECTION

This circuit is still different from the touch lamps sold in stores because the LED goes dark if you remove your finger from
it. We need a way of remembering when you’ve touched the lamp to turn it on or off - we need a memory, and we’ll show
you one in Experiment 45.

+9V 3.3kΩ

1k
Ω

10kΩ
470Ω

12
EXPERIMENT #5: THE VOLTMETER
Make sure you have a strong 9V battery for this experiment. Connect the circuit according to the Wiring Diagram and
schematic, connect the battery last since this will turn on the circuit. And be sure to disconnect the battery (or turn off your
power supply) when you’re not using the circuit to avoid draining the battery. The part of the circuit to the left of the dashed
line in the schematic is the voltmeter, the two resistors on the right produce a voltage that you will measure. Notice that
the variable resistor (VR) will always act as a 50kΩ across the battery but by turning its knob you adjust the voltage at the
base of the left transistor. By turning this knob you can make one LED brighter than the other, indicating that the voltages
at the bases of the two transistors are not equal. Adjust the VR so that the two LEDs are equally bright. The transistor
base voltages are now equal. To determine what voltage you have measured, simply subtract the percentage you turned
your VR dial from 100 and multiply by 0.09.
If you like you can calculate what voltage you should have measured. Your measurement may differ from this due to the
tolerances in the resistors and the VR dial, but you should be close. The resistors on the right are a voltage adjuster, just
like the VR is, and the voltage you measured (at the base of the right transistor) is:

RLower 33kΩ
VCalculated = ————————— x VBattery = ———————— x 9V = 6.9V
RUpper + RLower 10kΩ + 33kΩ

This circuit is a form of the Differential Pair transistor configuration, which is widely used in integrated circuits. If the
transistor base voltages are equal then the currents through the LEDs and collectors will also be equal. If one base voltage
is higher than the other then that transistor will have more current flowing through it’s collector and associated LED.
You can now replace the two resistors on the right with a different combination and make a new voltage measurement. The
table below lists different combinations of your PK-101 resistors that you can measure, but you don’t have to measure them
all. In some combinations resistors are placed in series or parallel to create new values.
Remember to disconnect the battery when you’re not using the circuit to avoid draining the battery.

Upper Resistor Lower Resistor Measured Voltage Calculated Voltage

10kΩ 33kΩ 6.9V
33kΩ 10kΩ 2.1
33kΩ 100kΩ 6.8
100kΩ 33kΩ 2.2
3.3kΩ 10kΩ 6.8
10kΩ 3.3kΩ 2.2
1kΩ 3.3kΩ 6.90
3.3kΩ 1kΩ 2.1
10kΩ parallel 33kΩ, 100kΩ 6.4V
parallel 33kΩ, 100kΩ 10kΩ 2.6V
series 10kΩ, 33kΩ 100kΩ 6.3
100kΩ series 10kΩ, 33kΩ 2.7
1kΩ parallel 3.3kΩ, 10kΩ 6.4
parallel 3.3kΩ, 10kΩ 1kΩ 2.6
series 1kΩ, 3.3kΩ 10kΩ 6.3
10kΩ series 1kΩ, 3.3kΩ 2.7

13
 (Note positions
of flat sides)

+9V

kΩ
10
33kΩ
470Ω

14
EXPERIMENT #6: BATTERY IMMUNIZER
Connect the circuit according to the Wiring Diagram and schematic. Note that the collectors of the center and right
transistors are not connected although their wires cross over each other in the schematic. Connect the loose wire to (+)18
or any of the (+) holes in the same row (which are connected to the battery); the LED is bright. Now connect the loose
wire to the emitter of the left transistor (holes f15, g15, h15, i15, or j15) as shown in the schematic; the LED is just as bright.
So we made a change and nothing happened, does this seem like a dull experiment? It may seem dull but the important
idea here is that we made a big change to the circuit but nothing happened to the LED.
Take a look at the schematic. The circuit to the left of the loose wire reduces the voltage to 4.7V. You connect the loose
wire to either the 9V battery voltage or the modified 4.7V. The circuit to the right of the loose wire creates a fixed current
to the LED, which will not change even if the voltage (9V or 4.7V) to the circuit changes. So when you changed which
voltage the loose wire was connected to, you didn’t see any change in LED brightness.
In case you’re not convinced by this, let’s change the circuit to prove it. Place a second LED in series with the 3.3kΩ resistor
(reconnect the 3.3kΩ so that it is between d20 and f20, add an LED into holes e20 and f21 with the LED’s flat side in f21).
Now connect the loose wire to the two voltages as before and you should see the new LED change between bright and
dark while the old one remains bright as before.
You could use a circuit like this when you don’t want your performance to be affected as your voltage drops, perhaps due
to a battery weakening over a long period of use. So you could say your circuit is immune to (protected against) a weak
battery.

(LOOSE WIRE)

+9V
33kΩ

3.3kΩ
470Ω

DIODE

15
EXPERIMENT #7: THE MAGNETIC BRIDGE
Connect the circuit and press the switch several times. LED-left blinks when the switch is pressed and LED-right blinks
when the switch is released.
Although the LED may blink in the same manner as the last experiment, the method is quite different. There is no wire
connection across the transformer, its DC resistance is very high. When you press the switch there is a sudden surge of
current (AC) through the inductor that magnetically creates a current on the other side of the transformer, lighting LED-left.
The current from the battery quickly settles after the initial surge (becomes DC) and the magnetic induction stops because
the current is no longer changing, hence no current flows through the LED even though there is current on the battery side
of the transformer. When you release the switch the sudden drop in current through the transformer magnetically creates
a new current on the other side of the transformer, but this time in the opposite direction so LED-right lights instead of LED-
left. Again, this current is brief and the LED only blinks. The transformer has many more turns (more inductance) on the
LED side than on the battery side; this boosts the voltage to the LEDs (though it also lowers the current). If you reverse
the transformer then you won’t have enough voltage to turn on the LEDs.
You might think of a transformer as a magnetic bridge in electronics, since we use magnetism to cross a barrier that
electricity cannot cross by itself. Transformers are mainly used for isolating and buffering different circuits from each other,
and you will soon see some examples of this.

TRANSFORMER
(Primary side has 3
wires while secondary
side has only 2 wires.

+9V

(Note positions
P
of LED flat sides)

16
EXPERIMENT #8: THE LIGHTHOUSE
Connect the circuit. Notice that the transformer is being used as two coils (inductors) here. Also notice that two transformer
taps are not connected although their wires cross in the schematic. Press the switch and hold it down for a while. The
LED blinks every few seconds, like a tiny lighthouse!
Notice that the LED blinks at a constant rate. This circuit is called an oscillator. It uses feedback. Feedback is when you
adjust the input to something based on what its output is doing. The collector signal is fed back to the base through a coil
(part of the transformer) and the 100μF capacitor. If you disconnect this feedback path then the LED will be on
continuously, because the feedback is what turns the transistor on and off. The rate at which the transistor is turned on
and off is called the frequency and is controlled by the resistor, capacitor, and coil in the circuit. You can speed up the
frequency (the LED blink rate) by changing the resistor or capacitor to smaller values. Try replacing the 1MΩ resistor with
the 100kΩ resistor and see what happens.
Feedback is necessary for this circuit to work, but in some cases it can be harmful. In an auditorium or concert hall you
sometimes hear a microphone scream when it is located too close to the speaker. In this case the sound from the speaker
is feeding back into the microphone.

(1MΩ = brown-black-green-gold)

+9V

S
100μF

1MΩ

17
EXPERIMENT #9: ELECTRONIC SOUND
Now it’s time to make some noise. To do this we need a speaker. A speaker converts electrical energy into sound. It does
this by using the energy of an AC electrical signal to create mechanical vibrations. These vibrations create variations in air
pressure, called sound waves, which travel across the room. You “hear” sound when your ears feel these air pressure
variations. You need high current and low voltage to operate a speaker, so we will always use the transformer with the
speaker. (Remember that a transformer converts high-voltage/low-current to low-voltage/high-current). We create an AC
signal for the speaker using the oscillator circuit introduced in the last experiment, with minor changes. A speaker has a
schematic symbol like this:

SPEAKER Symbol for SPEAKER

Connect the circuit, notice that two transformer taps are not connected although their wires cross in the schematic. Also
notice there are 4 resistors and 4 capacitors connected to the 3.3kΩ resistor (we are using the (+) row of holes at the
bottom to make the connections easier) and 2 loose wires connected to the transformer. We are also using the disc
capacitors for the first time, refer back to page 19 to review them if you need to. Connect the transformer to one resistor
and one capacitor at a time, then press the switch and listen. All the combinations are listed below, you don’t need to try
all of them but try some and see if there is a pattern in the frequency or pitch (a term used in music) of the sound. Record
a few comments about the sound you hear.

10kΩ 33kΩ 100kΩ 1MΩ

0.005μF

0.047μF

10μF

100μF

You may start to see the same thing we told you about the blinking LED frequency - that the frequency increases when you
lower the resistance or capacitance. It also increases if you lower the inductance, but you don’t have any other inductors
you can substitute.

Oscillators are among the most important circuits in electronics and most of your remaining experiments will use an
oscillator of some form. Although the oscillator circuits used here are simple ones, some oscillators can be the most difficult
circuits to design.

18
 .005μF

SPEAKER

+9V

473
P
+
10kΩ

100kΩ
1MΩ
33kΩ

Ω
3k

502
3.

DISC CAPACITORS
473 marking = 0.047μF
502 marking = 0.005μF
100μF
10μF

LOOSE WIRES

19
EXPERIMENT #10: THE ALARM
This circuit is unusual in that you turn it on by disconnecting a wire and turn it off by connecting the wire. Connect the
circuit, including a long wire as the “trip” wire. Notice that there is no sound. Now disconnect the trip wire and you hear a
sound, an alarm.
This type of circuit is used to detect burglars or other intruders. If you use a longer trip wire, you can place it across a
doorway or window and when someone goes through the doorway or window they will trip on the wire (disconnecting it)
and the alarm will sound. This is how professional burglar alarms work, although some use beams of light across the
doorway or window instead of wire for the “trip” mechanism. The trip wire could also alert your local police station instead
of turning on the alarm here.
This circuit is the same oscillator circuit you just used except that the trip wire was added. The trip wire creates a “short
circuit” across the transistor base, so no current flows into the base and the transistor stays off. Disconnecting the trip wire
eliminates the short and the oscillator works normally.
If you like, you can adjust the loudness of the alarm by replacing the 3.3kΩ resistor with the variable resistor.

.005μF

SPEAKER

+9V

502

1MΩ

3.3KΩ

LONG “TRIP” WIRE

20
EXPERIMENT #11: SIREN
Connect the circuit and press the switch. It makes a siren sound.
You saw earlier how you could change the frequency (pitch) of the oscillator by changing the oscillator’s resistance. Well
this is basically the same oscillator circuit you’ve been using except that now we are electronically varying the oscillator’s
resistance. The large 1MΩ resistor and 10μf capacitor cause the base voltage (and hence base current) on transistor NPN-
left to rise slowly. As the base current slowly increases, NPN-left’s collector current also increases slowly (though it is
always much higher than the base current). NPN-left is now limiting the current just as a resistor does! Similar effects
occur after you release the switch and the 10μF slowly discharges.
If you like you can make the sound louder by adding a 1kΩ resistor in series with the base (middle wire) of NPN-right.

+9V

10kΩ 473

1MΩ
P

10μF
+
470Ω
-

21
EXPERIMENT #12: ELECTRONIC NOISEMAKER
Connect the circuit, connecting the battery last since it will turn the circuit on. Press the switch several times quickly. Then
turn the variable resistor knob to change the frequency of the sounds.
Do you understand what’s happening when you press the switch? You increase the oscillator capacitance by putting the
0.005μF in parallel with the 0.047μF, and this lowers the oscillator frequency.
As usual you can experiment with changing component values if you like.

.005μF

502
+9V

33kΩ

473 P
470Ω

22
+9V

473

P
10kΩ

3.3kΩ

LONG LOOSE WIRES

23
EXPERIMENT #13: BLINKING LIGHTS
Take a look at the schematic. This circuit configuration is a type of oscillator called an astable multivibrator. What do you
think it will do? Connect the circuit, noting that the transistor bases are not connected although their wires cross in the
schematic. Initially set the variable resistor (VR) to its minimum value (turn it to the left). Press the switch and hold it down.
One LED is on while the other is off, and they change about every second. What do you think will happen as you turn the
knob on the VR? The right LED stays on longer than the left one.
In this circuit, one transistor is always on while the other is off. In this type of oscillator there is no inductor, the frequency
is controlled only by the resistors and capacitors. The 100kΩ and 10μF determine how long the left transistor is on and
the 3.3kΩ, VR, and 100μF determine how long the right transistor is on. If you want to experiment with changing part
values, go ahead. But don’t replace the capacitors with the smaller disc ones (you’ll see why in the next experiment).
Blinking lights like this are often used to attract people’s attention.

Note that battery

connection point
has changed.
470Ω
1kΩ

100kΩ

+9V
3.3kΩ

100μF

Note positions of
LED and transistor
10μF

flat sides
+

24
EXPERIMENT #14: NOISY BLINKER
This circuit is similar to the last one. Connect the circuit (noting that the transistor bases are not connected although their
wires cross in the schematic). Press the switch and hold it down. The LED lights and you hear sound from the speaker.
Turn the knob on the variable resistor and the frequency of the sound changes. Can you tell what the LED is really doing?
It is actually blinking about 500 times a second, but to your eyes it appears as a blur or just dim. (This is why we told you
not to replace the large capacitors with small ones like these in the last experiment).
You can experiment with changing component values if you like. The 470Ω resistor limits the sound loudness, replace it
with a wire to make the sound louder and replace it with a 10kΩ to make the sound softer. Swapping the two capacitors
in the circuit will make the sound frequency higher, replacing them with the 10μF or 100μF will make the frequency much
lower. You can also change some of the other resistors.

.005μF

+9V
1kΩ

100kΩ
3.3kΩ

470Ω

473

P
502

25
EXPERIMENT #15: ALARM WITH SHUT-OFF TIMER
Let’s demonstrate a use for the timer circuit you just built by combining it with Experiment 30, the Alarm. Connect the circuit
(noting that the transistor bases and transformer signals are not connected although their wires cross in the schematic).
Connect the alarm trip wire and then connect the battery wire to turn the circuit on. Press the switch once. Now disconnect
the trip wire to activate the alarm. The alarm stays on for a few seconds and then goes off. Re-connect the trip wire and
press the switch to reset the alarm and timer. If you only re-connect the trip wire without resetting the timer then the alarm
won’t work the next time. You could use a circuit like this where you get lots of false alarms and you want to shut off the
alarm before the battery gets weak. Automobile alarms, for example, get lots of false alarms.

+9V
100kΩ

3.3kΩ
100μF

P
473
470Ω

10kΩ
33kΩ

“TRIP” WIRE
DIODE

26
EXPERIMENT #45: FINGER TOUCH LAMP WITH MEMORY
Instead of using the wire to flip-flop the LED you may also use your fingers as you did in Experiment 20, the Two Finger
Touch Lamp. We’ll use almost the same circuit here as in the last experiment. Remove the loose wire and replace the
right LED with a diode, because we don’t need two “lamps”. Wet two fingers and hold one on 9V (the (+) row of holes)
while touching the other to one of the transistor bases. (This is easy if you touch the metal leads of the resistors connected
to these points, or you may insert wires into the holes and touch the wires). But now you must touch the base of the “off”
transistor to make them flip-flop, not the “on” base. Do you know why? Your body has more resistance than the other
resistors in the circuit and cannot “short circuit” the transistor bases to circuit ground like the wire can. So instead we
connect the off transistor to the battery to turn it on.
But this uses two fingers and in Experiment 21 we also had a one-finger version, so can we do that here? Change your
wiring (add wires or move parts) so that metal from 9V is close to metal from the transistor bases. Wet a large area of one
of your fingers and touch it to 9V and a transistor base at the same time. Now we have a one-finger touch lamp with
memory!

+9V 3.3kΩ
1kΩ

100kΩ

33kΩ

LOOSE WIRE

27
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE #3
1. Adjusting the input to something based on what its output is doing is an example of __________.

2. A speaker converts electrical energy into __________ __________ variations, called sound waves.

3. An oscillator’s frequency __________ when you add resistance or capacitance.

4. A NOR gate followed by a NOT gate is the same as an __________ gate.

5. An AND gate followed by a NOT gate is the same as a __________ gate.

(Answers are on page 3)

TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE
• Check your wiring against the Wiring Diagram and the schematic, very carefully. Be sure all your wires and components
are securely in place in the correct hole and not loose. Make sure the metal in the wires and components is not
contacting any other metal, since this will create “short circuits”. Nearly all problems are due to wiring errors.

• Remember that the battery and electrolytic capacitors have “+” and “–” terminal markings, and be sure to correctly
position the transistors, LEDs, diode, and transformer as per the guides.

• Be sure you have a good 9V battery. If not sure then try a new battery.

• Be sure you understand how to read the resistor color code, so that you use the right value parts.

• Be sure you understand which breadboard holes are connected to which.

Contact ELENCO® (our address/phone/website is on the back of this booklet) if you further assistance. DO NOT contact
your place of purchase as they will not be able to help you.

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DEFINITION OF TERMS
(Most of these are introduced and explained during the experiments.)

AC.................................... Common abbreviation for alternating current.

Alternating Current...... A current that is constantly changing.
Amp................................. Shortened name for ampere.
Ampere (A).................... The unit of measure for electric current. Commonly shortened to amp.
Amplitude....................... Strength or level of something.
Analogy.......................... A similarity in some ways.
AND Gate....................... A type of digital circuit which gives a HIGH output only if all of its inputs are HIGH.
Astable Multivibrator... A type of transistor configuration in which only one transistor is on at a time.
Atom................................The smallest particle of a chemical element, made up of electrons, protons, etc..
Audio............................... Electrical energy representing voice or music.
Base................................ The controlling input of an NPN bipolar junction transistor.
Battery............................ A device which uses a chemical reaction to create an electric charge across a material.
Bias................................. The state of the DC voltages across a diode or transistor.
Bipolar Junction
Transistor (BJT)............ A widely used type of transistor.
Bistable Switch............. A type of transistor configuration, also known as the flip-flop.
BJT.................................. Common abbreviation for Bipolar Junction Transistor.
Capacitance................... The ability to store electric charge.
Capacitor........................ An electrical component that can store electrical pressure (voltage) for periods of time.
Carbon............................ A chemical element used to make resistors.
Clockwise...................... In the direction in which the hands of a clock rotate.
Coil.................................. When something is wound in a spiral. In electronics this describes inductors, which are
coiled wires.
Collector......................... The controlled input of an NPN bipolar junction transistor.
Color Code..................... A method for marking resistors using colored bands.
Conductor...................... A material that has low electrical resistance.
Counter-Clockwise....... Opposite the direction in which the hands of a clock rotate.
Current........................... A measure of how fast electrons are flowing in a wire or how fast water is flowing in a pipe.
Darlington...................... A transistor configuration which has high current gain and input resistance.
DC....................................Common abbreviation for direct current.
Decode........................... To recover a message.
Detector......................... A device or circuit which finds something.
Diaphragm..................... A flexible wall.
Differential Pair............. A type of transistor configuration.
Digital Circuit................ A wide range of circuits in which all inputs and outputs have only two states, such as
high/low.
Diode.............................. An electronic device that allows current to flow in only one direction.
Direct Current............... A current that is constant and not changing.
Disc Capacitor.............. A type of capacitor that has low capacitance and is used mostly in high frequency circuits.
Electric Field................. The region of electric attraction or repulsion around a constant voltage. This is usually
associated with the dielectric in a capacitor.
Electricity....................... A flow of electrons between atoms due to an electrical charge across the material.
Electrolytic Capacitor.. A type of capacitor that has high capacitance and is used mostly in low frequency circuits.
It has polarity markings.
Electron.......................... A sub-atomic particle that has an electrical charge.
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Electronics..................... The science of electricity and its applications.
Emitter............................ The output of an NPN bipolar junction transistor.
Encode........................... To put a message into a format which is easier to transmit.
Farad, (F)....................... The unit of measure for capacitance.
Feedback....................... To adjust the input to something based on what its output is doing.
Flip-Flop......................... A type of transistor configuration is which the output changes every time it receives an
input pulse.
Forward-Biased............ The state of a diode when current is flowing through it.
Frequency...................... The rate at which something repeats.
Friction........................... The rubbing of one object against another. It generates heat.
Gallium Arsenide.......... A chemical element that is used as a semiconductor.
Generator....................... A device which uses steam or water pressure to move a magnet near a wire, creating an
electric current in the wire.
Germanium.................... A chemical element that is used as a semiconductor.
Ground............................ A common term for the 0V or “–” side of a battery or generator.
Henry (H)........................ The unit of measure for Inductance.
Inductance..................... The ability of a wire to create an induced voltage when the current varies, due to magnetic
effects.
Inductor.......................... A component that opposes changes in electrical current.
Insulator......................... A material that has high electrical resistance.
Integrated Circuit......... A type of circuit in which transistors, diodes, resistors, and capacitors are all constructed
on a semiconductor base.
Kilo- (K).......................... A prefix used in the metric system. It means a thousand of something.
LED..................................Common abbreviation for light emitting diode.
Leads.............................. The wires sticking out of an electronic component, used to connect it to the circuit.
Light Emitting Diode.... A diode made from gallium arsenide that has a turn-on energy so high that light is
generated when current flows through it.
Magnetic Field.............. The region of magnetic attraction or repulsion around a magnet or an AC current. This is
usually associated with an inductor or transformer.
Magnetism..................... A force of attraction between certain metals. Electric currents also have magnetic
properties.
Meg- (M)......................... A prefix used in the metric system. It means a million of something.
Micro- (μ)....................... A prefix used in the metric system. It means a millionth (0.000,001) of something.
Milli- (m)......................... A prefix used in the metric system. It means a thousandth (0.001) of something.
Momentum..................... The power of a moving object.
Morse Code................... A code used to send messages with long or short transmit bursts.
NAND Gate..................... A type of digital circuit which gives a HIGH output if some of its inputs are LOW.
NOR Gate....................... A type of digital circuit which gives a HIGH output if none of its inputs are HIGH.
NOT Gate........................ A type of digital circuit whose output is opposite its input.
NPN................................. Negative-Positive-Negative, a type of transistor construction.
Ohm’s Law..................... The relationship between voltage, current, and resistance.
Ohm, (Ω)......................... The unit of measure for resistance.
OR Gate.......................... A type of digital circuit which gives a HIGH output if any of its inputs are HIGH.
Oscillator........................ A circuit that uses feedback to generate an AC output.
Parallel........................... When several electrical components are connected between the same points in the circuit.
Pico- (p)......................... A prefix used in the metric system. It means a millionth of a millionth (0.000,000,000,001) of
something.
Pitch................................ The musical term for frequency.

30
Primary........................... The larger of the two coils in a transformer.
Printed Circuit Board... A board used for mounting electrical components. Components are connected using metal
traces “printed” on the board instead of wires.
Receiver......................... The device which is receiving a message (usually with radio).
Resistance..................... The electrical friction between an electric current and the material it is flowing through; the
loss of energy from electrons as they move between atoms of the material.
Resistor.......................... Components used to control the flow of electricity in a circuit. They are made of carbon.
Resistor-Transistor-
Logic (RTL).................... A type of circuit arrangement used to construct digital gates.
Reverse-Biased............. When there is a voltage in the direction of high-resistance across a diode.
Saturation...................... The state of a transistor when the circuit resistances, not the transistor itself, are limiting
the current.
Schematic...................... A drawing of an electrical circuit that uses symbols for all the components.
Secondary...................... The smaller of the two coils in a transformer.
Semiconductor.............. A material that has more resistance than conductors but less than insulators. It is used to
construct diodes, transistors, and integrated circuits.
Series.............................. When electrical components are connected one after the other.
Short Circuit.................. When wires from different parts of a circuit (or different circuits) connect accidentally.
Silicon............................. The chemical element most commonly used as a semiconductor.
Solder............................. A tin-lead metal that becomes a liquid when heated to above 360 degrees. In addition to
having low resistance like other metals, solder also provides a strong mounting that can
withstand shocks.
Speaker.......................... A device which converts electrical energy into sound.
Switch............................. A device to connect (“closed” or “on”) or disconnect (“open” or “off”) wires in an electric
circuit.
Transformer................... A device which uses two coils to change the AC voltage and current (increasing one while
decreasing the other).
Transient........................ Temporary. Used to describe DC changes to circuits.
Transistor....................... An electronic device that uses a small amount of current to control a large amount of cur
rent.
Transmitter.................... The device which is sending a message (usually with radio).
Truth Table.................... A table which lists all the possible combinations of inputs and outputs for a digital circuit.
Tungsten........................ A highly resistive material used in light bulbs.
Variable Resistor.......... A resistor with an additional arm contact that can move along the resistive material and tap
off the desired resistance.
Voltage........................... A measure of how strong an electric charge across a material is.
Voltage Divider............. A resistor configuration to create a lower voltage.
Volts (V).......................... The unit of measure for voltage.

31