This free, multi-volume electrical engineering textbook covers electricity and electronics. Written by Tony R. Kuphaldt under the Design Science License, it has been reformatted and updated by All About Circuits.
Direct current (DC) is the flow of electrically charged particles in one unchanging direction. DC is more practical than AC in many applications and is found in smartphones, TVs, cars (including EVs), battery-powered devices, photovoltaic solar cells, and much more.
Alternating current (AC) is the periodic flow of electric charge in two alternating directions, most commonly in the form of a sinusoidal wave. AC often has advantages over DC in power generation, transmission, and transformer voltage step-up and step-down, but the analysis is often more complex.
Semiconductors exhibit electrical behavior between insulators and conductors. Semiconductors, particularly silicon, are used to create transistors which are the most common circuit component. Billions of transistors fit into one small integrated circuit (IC) inside smartphones, computers, and cars.
Digital circuits have only two states: on and off, also referred to as 1 and 0. This is opposed to analog circuits, which support a continuous range of values. Digital circuits and the associated mathematics of Boolean algebra are the backbones of smartphones, computers, Wi-Fi, and the Internet.
This electronics engineering reference provides frequently used equations, circuit rules, symbols, conversions, mathematics, simulation concepts, and troubleshooting tips. It is ideal for electrical engineers to bookmark for everyday reuse or to refresh their skills before that big job interview.
Put down your pencil and stop that SPICE simulation! It is time to get out the breadboard, soldering iron, and component bin and build some real circuits. This chapter will help you get started building AC and DC circuits, analog and digital semiconductor circuits, and using test equipment.
Radio-frequency (RF) circuits find use in smartphones, GPS navigation, wireless communication, radar, and much more. This textbook emphasizes foundational RF concepts and techniques and provides you with the information needed to begin analyzing and designing RF circuits.