Mk,
Resistors normally don't have a preference of which end is the entrance and exit points. You can install them backwards, if you'd like, and they still work. It's capacitors (except for ceramic-type), diodes, transistors, and other sensitive electronic components, that do need to be connected the right way. Otherwise, if you don't, a so-called "reflective power" will exceed that component's tolerance and cause arcing or short circuit.
Capacitors act both as a temporary rechargeable battery and be applied as a filter or conditioner. It discharges and builds up a charge just like a battery, they can be wired in parallel to act as a filter (such as a crossover circuit for a loudspeaker) of audio and radio frequencies, also you can wire them in series and/or parallel to smooth out power spikes within a power supply or other power feeds.
Diodes are designed to allow current to flow in one direction, but not the other. If you wire these the wrong way, they will tolerate a reverse direction of current only so much before they short circuit and either open or pass the current through. In circuits with power supplies, where rectifier diodes are used, you have 2 to 4 diodes in one rectifier that will convert AC (alternating current) into DC (direct current); 1 or 2 diodes make sure AC doesn't short or mix with DC and the remainder diodes will pass the DC polarity through 1 or 2 other diodes, depending on whether you use a half-wave or full-wave rectifier.
Transistors and other semiconductors, being they are a DC component and sensitive like diodes, must be wired the right way or they will short, open, or pass the current. In a transistor, you apply a forward current to change the physical properties of the silicon or crystal, so it can allow electrical flow across 2 points. Think of a transistor as being a flood gate on a river. The pathway the water flows through is the base to the collector. The gate that opens is the emitter side. In some transistors, the gate only opens when current is applied to the emitter. When the current stops, the gate closes. Also vice-versa; the gate only opens when current stops being applied to the emitter.
One other note: It is normally good practice to take each resistor out of circuit to get their correct values. If you just check resistance while still wired in a circuit, you are getting the resistance values from other components. In series circuits, the resistance values are added up; in parallel, they are inversely proportional to the total. When 2 resistors in parallel are the same value, the resistance will actually be half of the total through that leg of the circuit (product over sum; R1 * R2 / R1 + R2).
73s de Phreakout. :rambo:
Resistors normally don't have a preference of which end is the entrance and exit points. You can install them backwards, if you'd like, and they still work. It's capacitors (except for ceramic-type), diodes, transistors, and other sensitive electronic components, that do need to be connected the right way. Otherwise, if you don't, a so-called "reflective power" will exceed that component's tolerance and cause arcing or short circuit.
Capacitors act both as a temporary rechargeable battery and be applied as a filter or conditioner. It discharges and builds up a charge just like a battery, they can be wired in parallel to act as a filter (such as a crossover circuit for a loudspeaker) of audio and radio frequencies, also you can wire them in series and/or parallel to smooth out power spikes within a power supply or other power feeds.
Diodes are designed to allow current to flow in one direction, but not the other. If you wire these the wrong way, they will tolerate a reverse direction of current only so much before they short circuit and either open or pass the current through. In circuits with power supplies, where rectifier diodes are used, you have 2 to 4 diodes in one rectifier that will convert AC (alternating current) into DC (direct current); 1 or 2 diodes make sure AC doesn't short or mix with DC and the remainder diodes will pass the DC polarity through 1 or 2 other diodes, depending on whether you use a half-wave or full-wave rectifier.
Transistors and other semiconductors, being they are a DC component and sensitive like diodes, must be wired the right way or they will short, open, or pass the current. In a transistor, you apply a forward current to change the physical properties of the silicon or crystal, so it can allow electrical flow across 2 points. Think of a transistor as being a flood gate on a river. The pathway the water flows through is the base to the collector. The gate that opens is the emitter side. In some transistors, the gate only opens when current is applied to the emitter. When the current stops, the gate closes. Also vice-versa; the gate only opens when current stops being applied to the emitter.
One other note: It is normally good practice to take each resistor out of circuit to get their correct values. If you just check resistance while still wired in a circuit, you are getting the resistance values from other components. In series circuits, the resistance values are added up; in parallel, they are inversely proportional to the total. When 2 resistors in parallel are the same value, the resistance will actually be half of the total through that leg of the circuit (product over sum; R1 * R2 / R1 + R2).
73s de Phreakout. :rambo: