Electronics for Kids

Electronics for Kids

by Oyvind Nydal Dahl
Released July 2016
Publisher(s): No Starch Press
ISBN: 9781593277253

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Book description

Full of fun examples and color illustrations, Electronics for Kids is a playful introduction to circuits that will help any beginner get started.

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Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. About the Author
  5. About the Technical Reviewer
  6. Brief Contents
  7. Contents in Detail
  8. Foreword by Joe Grand
  9. Acknowledgments
  10. Introduction
    1. About This Book
      1. Who Should Read This Book
      2. How to Read This Book
      3. What’s in This Book?
    2. Your Electronics Lab
      1. Useful Supplies
      2. Safety First!
  11. Part 1: Playing with Electricity
    1. Chapter 1: What Is Electricity?
      1. Project #1: Turn on a Light!
        1. Shopping List
        2. Step 1: Inspect the Light Bulb
        3. Step 2: Connect the Light Bulb to the Battery
      2. How Does Electricity Light a Bulb?
        1. What Is an Electron?
        2. Voltage Pushes Electrons
        3. Current Flows
        4. Resistance Reduces Current
        5. Lighting the Bulb
      3. How Is a Circuit Like a Pipe System?
      4. Meet the Switch
      5. Project #2: Intruder Alarm
        1. Shopping List
        2. Tools
        3. Step 1: Does the Buzzer Beep?
        4. Step 2: Prepare the Aluminum
        5. Step 3: Foil Your Door
        6. Step 4: Prepare a Trigger Wire
        7. Step 5: Connect the Buzzer and Trigger Wire
        8. Step 6: Mount the Buzzer and Trigger Wire
        9. Step 7: Add a Power Source
        10. Step 8: Stage an Intruder Alert!
        11. Step 9: What If the Intruder Alarm Doesn’t Work?
      6. What’s Next?
    2. Chapter 2: Making Things Move with Electricity and Magnets
      1. How Magnets Work
        1. Try It Out: Find Some Magnetic Objects!
      2. Meet the Electromagnet
      3. Project #3: Create Your Own Electromagnet
        1. Shopping List
        2. Tools
        3. Step 1: Check Your Bolt
        4. Step 2: Remove Insulation from One End of the Coil Wire
        5. Step 3: Wind the Wire
        6. Step 4: Connect the Negative Battery Terminal to the Coil
        7. Step 5: Connect the Switch
        8. Step 6: Test Your Super Electromagnet
        9. Step 7: What If the Electromagnet Isn’t Working?
      4. Meet the Motor
      5. Project #4: Create a Motor
        1. Shopping List
        2. Tools
        3. Step 1: Create the Rotor
        4. Step 2: Build the Motor’s Structure
        5. Step 3: Place the Magnets
        6. Step 4: Reinsulate Part of the Coil
        7. Step 5: Rev Up Your Motor
        8. Step 6: What If the Motor Doesn’t Work?
      6. What’s Next?
    3. Chapter 3: How to Generate Electricity
      1. Generating Electricity with Magnets
        1. A Changing Magnetic Field Creates Electricity
        2. How Does a Generator Work?
        3. Creating Electricity from Water or Wind
      2. Meet the Multimeter
        1. How to Measure Voltage
        2. What Are AC and DC?
      3. Project #5: Make a Shake Generator
        1. Shopping List
        2. Tools
        3. Step 1: Prepare Your Tube
        4. Step 2: Wind Your Coil
        5. Step 3: Connect the Multimeter
        6. Step 4: Shake That Thing!
        7. Step 5: What If There’s No Voltage?
        8. Try It Out: Using a Motor as a Generator
      4. How Do Batteries Work?
        1. What’s Inside a Battery?
        2. The Chemistry Behind Batteries
        3. What Determines a Battery’s Voltage?
      5. Project #6: Turn On a Light with Lemon Power
        1. Meet the LED
        2. Shopping List
        3. Tools
        4. Step 1: Prepare Your Wires
        5. Step 2: Insert Electrodes into a Lemon
        6. Step 3: Create Four Lemon Batteries
        7. Step 4: Connect the Lemons in Series
        8. Step 5: Test Your Lemon Battery
        9. Try It Out: More Food Batteries!
        10. Step 6: What If Your Lemon Light Doesn’t Work?
      6. What’s Next?
  12. Part 2: Building Circuits
    1. Chapter 4: Creating Light with LEDs
      1. Meet the Resistor
        1. Resistor Color Codes
        2. How to Write Large Values
        3. What Are Resistors Made Of?
        4. Resistors Control Current and Voltage
      2. Introducing Ohm’s Law
      3. Project #7: Let’s Destroy an LED!
        1. Shopping List
        2. Step 1: Identify Which LED Leg Is Which
        3. Step 2: Break That LED!
        4. Step 3: What If Nothing Happens to the LED?
      4. How to Use an LED Correctly
        1. How to Write Small Values
        2. Protecting Your LED with a Resistor
        3. Calculating the Resistance You Need
      5. Project #8: Powering an LED
        1. Shopping List
        2. Step 1: Twist the Resistor and LED
        3. Step 2: Wire the Battery Clip
        4. Step 3: Let There Be Light!
        5. Step 4: What If the LED Doesn’t Work?
      6. Building Circuits on a Breadboard
        1. How to Connect Components and Wires
        2. Wires to Use on a Breadboard
      7. Project #9: Your First Breadboard Circuit
        1. Shopping List
        2. Step 1: Place the Resistor
        3. Step 2: Place the LED
        4. Step 3: Place the Battery Clip
        5. Step 4: What If the LED Doesn’t Work?
      8. What’s Next?
    2. Chapter 5: Blinking a Light for the First Time
      1. Meet the Capacitor
        1. How Capacitors Work
        2. Polarized and Nonpolarized Capacitors
        3. Capacitor Values
      2. Project #10: Test a Capacitor
        1. Shopping List
        2. Step 1: Start with the LED Circuit
        3. Step 2: Add the Capacitor
        4. Step 3: Charge the Capacitor
        5. Step 4: Use the Capacitor to Light the LED
        6. Step 5: What If the Circuit Doesn’t Work?
      3. Describing Circuits with Symbols
      4. Meet the Relay
        1. Using the Relay to Blink a Light
        2. Slowing Down the Blinking
      5. Project #11: Blink a Light!
        1. Shopping List
        2. Step 1: Identify the Relay Pins
        3. Step 2: Make the Relay Switch Fast
        4. Step 3: Make the Relay Stay On Longer
        5. Step 4: Make the Relay Stay Off Longer
        6. Step 5: Add the LED and Resistor
        7. Step 6: What If the LED Won’t Blink?
        8. Try It Out: Make Your Intruder Alarm More Effective
      6. What’s Next?
    3. Chapter 6: Let’s Solder!
      1. How to Solder
        1. Soldering Safety Tips
        2. Heat the Soldering Iron
        3. Clean the Soldering Iron Tip
        4. Tin the Soldering Iron Tip
        5. Heat Both the Pin and the Pad
        6. Add Solder
        7. Remove the Soldering Iron
        8. Watch Out for Bad Solder Joints!
      2. Project #12: Solder Your First LED Circuit
        1. Shopping List
        2. Tools
        3. Step 1: Place the Components
        4. Step 2: Bend the Component Legs
        5. How to Read the Circuit Board Illustrations
        6. Step 3: Heat and Clean the Soldering Iron
        7. Step 4: Solder the Resistor and LED
        8. Step 5: Trim the Legs
        9. Step 6: Solder the Battery Clip
        10. Step 7: Let There Be Light!
        11. Step 8: What If the Soldered LED Circuit Doesn’t Work?
      3. Oops! How Do I Remove a Soldered Component?
      4. Project #13: Desolder the Battery Clip
        1. Shopping List
        2. Tools
        3. Step 1: Heat the Soldering Iron
        4. Step 2: Place the Solder Wick on the Solder Joint
        5. Step 3: Heat the Solder Joint and the Solder Wick
        6. Step 4: Trim the Used Solder Wick
        7. Step 5: Remove the Other Battery Clip Wire
        8. Try It Out: Solder More Stuff!
      5. What’s Next?
    4. Chapter 7: Controlling Things with Electricity
      1. Meet the Transistor
        1. Why Use a Transistor?
        2. How the Transistor Works
        3. Controlling an LED with a Transistor
      2. Project #14: Build a Circuit that Senses Touch
        1. Shopping List
        2. Tools
        3. Step 1: Place Components on the Prototyping Board
        4. Step 2: Check Your Component Placement
        5. Step 3: Solder the Components and Trim Excess Legs
        6. Step 4: Solder the Touch Pad
        7. Step 5: Power It Up!
        8. Step 6: Test the Sensor
        9. Step 7: What If the Touch Sensor Doesn’t Work?
        10. Try It Out: Can the Touch Sensor Detect Different Touches?
      3. Resistors That Can Change Value
        1. Meet the Potentiometer
        2. Meet the Photoresistor
      4. Dividing a Voltage with Resistors
        1. What Does a Voltage Divider Look Like?
        2. Calculating the Voltage from a Voltage Divider
        3. How a Voltage Divider Can Help Measure Light
      5. Project #15: Build a Sunrise Wake-Up Alarm
        1. Shopping List
        2. Tools
        3. Step 1: Place Components on the Prototyping Board
        4. Step 2: Solder the Components and Trim the Legs
        5. Step 3: Add the Buzzer to the Board
        6. Step 4: Make the Remaining Connections with Wires
        7. Step 5: Add the Battery Clip to the Board
        8. Step 6: Set a Wake-Up Call
        9. Step 7: What If There’s No Sound?
        10. Try It Out: Temperature-Controlled Fan
      6. What’s Next?
    5. Chapter 8: Building a Musical Instrument
      1. Meet the Integrated Circuit
      2. ICs and Datasheets
      3. How to Make Sound with Electricity
      4. Sounds That Humans Can Hear
      5. Meet the 555 Timer
        1. Powering an IC
        2. How to Set the Output Speed of the 555 Timer
      6. Project #16: Make Your Own Sound with the 555 Timer
        1. Shopping List
        2. Step 1: Place the 555 Timer on the Breadboard
        3. Step 2: Set the Frequency
        4. Step 3: Connect the Speaker and Coupling Capacitor
        5. Step 4: Connect the Power and Reset Pins
        6. Step 5: Make Some Sound!
        7. Step 6: What If There’s No Sound?
        8. Checking Connections as a Team
      7. Turning an Annoying Beep into Music
      8. Project #17: An Instrument That Beeps and Boops
        1. Shopping List
        2. Step 1: Connect the 555 Timer and the Capacitors
        3. Step 2: Connect Jumper Wires
        4. Step 3: Connect the Note Controller and Resistor
        5. Step 4: Add the “On” Button
        6. Step 5: Add the Loudspeaker
        7. Step 6: Play Some Music!
        8. Step 7: What If the Instrument Doesn’t Work?
        9. Try It Out: Make a Motion-Controlled Instrument
      9. What’s Next?
  13. Part 3: The Digital World
    1. Chapter 9: How Circuits Understand Ones and Zeros
      1. Ones and Zeros as Voltages
      2. Meet the Binary Number System
      3. Project #18: Convert from Binary to Decimal
        1. Tools
        2. Step 1: Write It Down on Paper
        3. Step 2: Write the Position Values
        4. Step 3: Find the Value of Each Digit
        5. Step 4: Add the Numbers
        6. Try It Out: Transform More Binary Numbers
      4. Bits and Bytes
      5. Numbers Can Be Anything
      6. Project #19: Color Guessing Game
        1. Meet the RGB LED
        2. Shopping List
        3. Step 1: Place the Color Chooser’s Push Buttons
        4. Step 2: Connect the RGB LED
        5. Step 3: Connect the Color Revealer Button
        6. Step 4: Test the Colors
        7. Step 5: What If the Game Doesn’t Work?
        8. Try It Out: Solder the Color Guessing Game
      7. How Binary Numbers Can Create Words
      8. Project #20: The Secret Message Machine
        1. Meet the DIP Switch
        2. Shopping List
        3. Step 1: Connect the Push Button
        4. Step 2: Connect the DIP Switch
        5. Step 3: Connect the LEDs
        6. Step 4: Send a Secret Message!
        7. Step 5: What If the Secret Message Machine Doesn’t Work?
        8. Why Computers Use Ones and Zeros
      9. What’s Next?
    2. Chapter 10: Circuits That Make Choices
      1. It’s Only Logical
      2. Meet the Logic Gates
        1. AND Gates Check for Two True Inputs
        2. OR Gates Check for One True Input
        3. NOT Gates Flip Inputs
        4. A Bigger AND Gate
      3. How to Draw Logic Circuit Diagrams
        1. A Logic Equation for a Secret Code
        2. Converting a Logic Equation into a Circuit Diagram
        3. Try It Out: Draw More Logical Statements as Circuits
      4. Using Logic Gates in Real Life
        1. More About Current, Components, and Transistors
      5. Project #21: A Secret Code Checker
        1. Shopping List
        2. Tools
        3. How to Use Other Voltages with a Breadboard
        4. Making Circuits More Reliable
        5. Step 1: Place the Switches and Resistors
        6. Step 2: Place the ICs
        7. Step 3: Place the Transistor and LED
        8. Step 4: Build the Logic Circuit
        9. Step 5: Finish Wiring the Transistor
        10. Protecting Your Components
        11. Step 6: Power and Test the Secret Code Checker
        12. Step 7: What If the LED Doesn’t Light Up?
        13. Try It Out: Disarm Your Intruder Alarm
      6. Negative Logic Gates
        1. NAND Looks for One False Input
        2. NOR Looks for Two False Inputs
      7. What’s Next?
    3. Chapter 11: Circuits That Remember Information
      1. Saving One Bit at a Time
      2. A Better Memory Circuit
      3. Memory That Changes Only at a Certain Time
      4. An Output That Toggles
      5. Project #22: An Electronic Coin Tosser
        1. Shopping List
        2. Step 1: Build the Oscillator Circuit
        3. Step 2: Add the Start Button
        4. Step 3: Build the Toggle Circuit
        5. Step 4: Add the Heads and Tails LEDs
        6. Step 5: Toss that “Coin”!
        7. Step 6: What If the Coin Tosser Doesn’t Work?
      6. What’s Next?
    4. Chapter 12: Let’s Make a Game!
      1. Meet the Reaction Game Circuits
        1. Meet the VCC and GND Symbols
        2. Why Is It Called VCC?
        3. A 555 Timer to Set the Light Speed
        4. A Counter to Turn the LEDs On
        5. A Latch to Start and Stop the Light
      2. Project #23: An LED Reaction Game
        1. Shopping List
        2. Tools
        3. Step 1: Build the 555 Timer Circuit
        4. Step 2: Build the LED-Controlling Circuit
        5. Step 3: Build the Start and Stop Circuit
        6. Step 4: Practice Your Reaction Time!
        7. Step 5: What If the Game Isn’t Working?
        8. Try It Out: Change the Light’s Speed
      3. Add a Buzzer to Your Game
      4. What’s Next? Go Make Cool Stuff!
  14. Handy Resources
    1. Component and Unit Value Cheat Sheets
      1. Resistor Color Codes
      2. Capacitor Codes
      3. Standard Prefixes
    2. A Quick Review of Ohm’s Law
    3. A Basic Voltage Divider Circuit
    4. Online Electronics Shops
    5. Online Resources
  15. Index
  16. Resources
  17. Real Electronics. Real Easy.
  18. Footnotes

Product information

  • Title: Electronics for Kids
  • Author(s): Oyvind Nydal Dahl
  • Release date: July 2016
  • Publisher(s): No Starch Press
  • ISBN: 9781593277253