I am interested in electron flow and the interaction thereof in elementary circuits built on RLC components. Can you help?

 

Please do not hijack another members thread.

Thank you.

You may also want to embellish on what you are trying to understand, since it is unclear from your original question.

Dave

 

Here is an online circuit simulator with electron flow:

http://falstad.com/circuit/

The program should start up with an LRC circuit, but if it does not, go to the "circuits" menu and select it.
You can download this Java Applet for free to run off line and create your own circuits.

 

Chris Wright...thanks a million for your reply. I have been trying to establish communication with somebody on the subject of electron flofor over six months.. Now that I have gotten an answer from you I hope you don't disappear. What I am trying to find is the systematic approach to an unfamiliar schematic in the reading and understanding of what it does and why. A text book on the subject of 100 electronic schematics with the complete operation of each down to the minutest detail of the current flow thru each part and cause and effect at aech junction. My ultimate end is to be able to sit down with a new schematic and read it the way some kids read comic books. I hope you stay with me. Charlie ...LINDSROTH@yahoo.com

 

Chris Wright......Holy Cow...I got your simulater and was working with it for a few minutes. I never knew such wonderful stuff existed. It actually tells you every millisecond what you want to know. I'm going to work with it for a couple of days and I'll get back to you. By the way is it possible to tape the action so I can play it back one frame at a time. Charlie...LINDSROTH@yahoo.com

 

This is just an aside form the vantage point of 45 years in the engineering business. Unless you're planning to be a semiconductor process engineer spending an inordinate amount of time on electron flow is in my humble opinion a complete waste of time. I think it is far better to understand the behavioral model of the components with respect to things which you can measure in the laboratory. After you understand the behavior, and can apply that understanding to real design problems, then you can go back and look at what happens at the electron level. I feel that at this point it will only confuse you and impede your path to understanding circuits and design.

 

This is just an aside form the vantage point of 45 years in the engineering business. Unless you're planning to be a semiconductor process engineer spending an inordinate amount of time on electron flow is in my humble opinion a complete waste of time. I think it is far better to understand the behavioral model of the components with respect to things which you can measure in the laboratory. After you understand the behavior, and can apply that understanding to real design problems, then you can go back and look at what happens at the electron level. I feel that at this point it will only confuse you and impede your path to understanding circuits and design.

I am going to be awkward here.

Although I certainly cannot speak from the vast experience that you have, I have always valued the need to understand the rudimentary principles of what is happening in electronic materials and devices on the atomic level - maybe this is because during my degree there was an entire course dedicated to this subject and I was quite good at it!

An example would be a project I am currently working on looking visualising temperature profiles from dielectric heating. Although when I get down to designing and implementing a system (many years from now!) sure I will not really want to know much about the physics of the problem. But in my attempts to lay the groundwork I need to understand the principles of dielectric heating which requires an understanding of the atomic interactions on the heating process. I have found that understanding the very basic principles of capacitance, for example, on an atomic level has greatly increased my understanding of concepts such as Maxwell-Wagner Polarisation, and the impact of the dielectric constant and loss factor on the reletive permittivity leading to a vast range of factors on the material heating. I would not liked to have picked up this project without a decent grounding in the physics of electronic materials and devices.

That said understanding the behavioural aspects of electronic components is also essential, particularly when looking at designing circuits where you can abstract from the underlying physics.

Just my 2 pence.

Dave

 

I have been going over and over the falstad simulator circuits with great pleasure and I wanted to again express my thanks to Chris Wright for telling me about it. The first thing the simulator confirmed was what happens if the switch is closed. In all of the books I have on oscillators not one has mentioned opening the switch to permit the oscillations to begin. they all mention in some way such as "we assume the capacitor is fully charged so as to begin the process", and "the circuit must be energized "....so to a person that is trying to learn it leaves a void and that void was filled a my first glance at the simulator in the LRC circuit. Thanks again. The second thing the simulator did for me was to show the Astble Multivibrator in action and I follow all of it except one thing. When the 18mfd caps are charged to a certain point the cycle reverses. What I need to know is at what point does it reverse ,,,how and why. I was always taught in a DC application of power to a capacitor the cap would charge to the extent of the applied power and stop...as an open circuit. Then if the power was disconnected and an alternat circuit was available...the cap would discharge into it. Could anyone fill me in on this part of my problem..Charlie

 

Dave...Having read your tu pence it is good to see that some one feels the way I do about learning. I am not saying it is right or wrong...good or bad. I do know that for me it is the most comforatable way to study and learn. I start at the beginning and pick my way thru piece by piece until I have one complete project in my head ...then I build on it slowly but surely. If I do not know everything there is to be known about where I am I find it difficult or impossible to proceed further. In my various studies I have found this to be a problem but I have not ever been introduced to a way around it. So I continue to pursue the march of the electron thru whatever maze of components we throw at it in the hope that someday soon I will be able to join him wherever he goes........Charlie ...LINDSROTH@yahoo.com