Intro 555 & Basic Components

Here are answers to the beginner’s questions. I am going to explain some basic components. The resister, capacitor, and a battery are very basic. If you want to go further there are transistors, and digital logic.I will get to them in a later instructable. This is where you get your feet wet. I don't expect you find these explanations thrilling but you may find them interesting enough to keep those windows open.

I have put the history of each part and I gave you some information on how they work. Most importantly I tell you how to use them in this project. This is where you need to be if you are going to make the most of your hobby. I do a lot of reading even though it may be boring. I even study math and principles of electronics on the atomic level.

I put this on here so that you may succeed in not only an interesting and thrilling hobby but a very useful one. Have you ever wanted to fix something. Well you need to know how to handle that soldering iron. Look I know it looks like a sowing needle but it has no eye so you don't have to worry about it watching you. So this should be less nerve wrecking than putting thread threw a needle. I recommend using a bread board for this if your a beginner. I wish you good luck

The 555 chip was invented by Hans R. in 1970. In my opinion this was very recent compared to the other components. This component is called a semiconductor for the reason that it is made up of silicon which is a semiconductor. A very thin layer of metal inside a chip connects all the basic components. They are micro small inside the chip. A chip in general is like a micro printed circuit board.

The 555 is a timer because it sends pulses called clock signals to any device that requires it. For example digital electronics would use it to calculate numbers. Calculating numbers is a basic principle to computers.

First off let’s look at the resister. It was invented by Otis Boykin an African American on June 16, 1959. Believe it or not Americans are not the only ones who are credited for inventing the basic components of electronics. Look at Japan and their processes of creating circuit boards that use nothing but the process of temperature and pressure to achieve cost efficient production.

The resister later on earned its stripes. I like to say “is a resister a resister without a number?” This was planned out by the Radio Manufacturer's Association in the 1920’S. The resister is represented by a couple of triangles with no base connected together in a line. The colors go from Black, Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, Grey, and White. In that order and if you memorize them in that order you will be better off. That is if you are going to do a lot of electronic builds or hacks.

You will need...
2 (4.7k) resister
1 (1k) resister
1 (10k) resister

When you come home and have already unboxed it and mixed them up. Use a resister color chart. You can find by typing (Ohms law resistance color chart)

It works like this. First color band is the first number. Second color band is the second number. Third is placing its decimal value for example reading from left to right red, green, and yellow will get you 25 with a decimal placed four zeros away from the dot. The fourth band is tolerance and I will explain on that in more detail in my next instructable.

If you have not noticed I attached images. Call me stupid but I thought you could say that they are what I am talking about in each step in learning the components. Look at it like a symbol for other things will be attached to the ends of the lines. This is how a schematic works. At the end of this you will use these symbols like a puzzle to make it on a bread board.

The capacitor was created by Pieter van Musschenbroek a Dutch scientist but this can be debatable. Another Scientist around the same time had made a similar device his name was Ewald Georg von Kleist. They both had the idea of keeping two leads separated by air or dielectric. It consisted of a Jar with a chain or metal rod in it and a metal cap on the underside of the jar. This was what is named by French scientific community the Leyden jar.

The capacitor is like a battery. It stores a temporary charge and then releases it. It is made up of two plates or film separated by a material called a dielectric. There are two types of capacitors are Electrolytic and ceramic. Electrolytic capacitors are used most commonly for low frequency and ceramic are most commonly used for high frequency. A capacitor is represented in two ways two T’s flipped and or a C with a T.  

There is such a thing as non-polar Electrolytic capacitors but in almost every circuit you will find polarized ones which mean that they have a negative and positive. So pay attention to what types your working with and see which way they go. In a schematic they are oriented by a plus sign. The negative is marked on the capacitor by a black  strip running from the top to the underside. You can also look to see which leed is longer and tell that it is the positive. Think of it as pointing to positive.

In the schematic at the end you will use a 10uf polarized capacitor.

The Led was created by Losev. In 1927 Losev created an article on his discovery of the Light occurring in diodes. He patented the light relay device that same year. It is a known controversy that it was created later. The article nature of Photonics was the first to give credit to Losev. It was written by Nikolay Zheludev.

A diode is represented as an arrow pointing to a line; much like the capacitor with a curved arrow pointing to a line. Also it only goes one way. There is a flat side to a LED that is the ground. There are two parts to a LED. They are Cathode and Anode. Just remember that A cathode is where electric current flows out in the direction toward ground.

Oh and in most schematics a LED is shown with arrow pointing away from the schematic symbol. Those arrows are connected to nothing. I forgot to put those in my drawing.

The power supply circuit is used to power the circuit. You need at least a nine volt battery and a voltage regulator. I recommend getting several from ebay because they overheat when you draw too much current. I won’t go over anything for the voltage regulator because it gets fairly complicated. All you need to know is that (1) is where you put the red wire or positive wire to, (2) is where you put the black or ground to, and (3) is where your out-put comes from or regulated voltage.
On top of these connections you put a (0.1 uf) capacitor connected to both where you had put the red wire and the output. Those two capacitors (you will have two) connected to ground.

Sorry I forgot to put the values on the capacitors. It is past my bedtime laugh out loud. As I said above they are both 0.1 uf

Now it is time for the circuit.

The circuit is made up of all the components I have explained and shown in pictures except the voltage regulator. Remember how to orientate them. This is where it is up to you to take the symbols I showed you and apply them in the circuit.

When you are done you should have the LED blinking. If you don’t try again reconstructing it in your mind or look to see if there are any components out of place. Believe me I have had this problem many times. Persistence is the key to success. The biggest problem is the wires. They have to be in the right place. Just one can stop it from working.

If you tried everything leave and come back to it. I notice that I get it when I walk away and come back most of the time. Very rarely do I come back and not get it working.

 In the schematic it is nine volts but I recommend you use your power supply. The ground symbol is an arrow made up of three parallel lines. That is connected to the black wire of the battery.