January 12, 2023 - Electricity Basics

Two main types of electrical current

AC - Alternating Current

• Type of current running from U.S Wall sockets - 110 Volts, 60 Hz
• Currrent is a wave flowing between positive and negative voltage, rate is measured in Hz

DC - Direct Current

• Always consistent, does not fluctuate like AC
• Type of current found in batteries

AC Adapters, or Wall Warts, converts AC from wall socket to DC for charging devices, etc.

Ohm’s Law

• Formula for converting between Volts, Current, and Resistence
• Volts are measured as such, represented by V, E.
• Current is meausred in amps, represented by A, I.
• Resistance is measured in Ohm’s, represented by Omega, R.

Breadboard Basics

• Ground is 0 Volts, Negative, represented by blue or black
• Positive current is represented by Red
• Numerical rows on the breadboard connect to one another, alphabetical columns do not.
• The Positive and Ground columns are connected on either side of the board.
• The break in the middle of the board splits the current. Battery needs to be patched over to supply power.

Resistor Color Key

• Colored bands on the resistor note how many Ohm’s it is rated for.
• Gold or silver band represents % of accuracy.
• 3 other colors represent value: first and second bands are first and second number, third band is the number of 0’s that follow.

Value	Color
0	Black
1	Brown
2	Red
3	Orange
4	Yellow
5	Green
6	Blue
7	Violet
8	Gray
9	White