Transcript Slide 1

NSF SPIRIT Workshop
2008
Build Your Own Battery Tester
Build Your Skills
 Today’s OBJECTIVES:
 Learn to Solder.
 Examine how circuit components work in a simple
circuit that is used to test a battery.
 Gain exposure to the fundamental law of circuit design –
Ohm’s Law.
 Build the circuit in lab. Take it with you!
Light Emitting Diodes
(LEDs)
 A diode is a semiconductor electronic device.
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Form numbers on digital clocks,
Transmit information from remote controls,
Tell you when appliances are turned on
Form images on a jumbo television screen or illuminate a traffic
light.
 A semiconductor is a material with varying ability
to conduct electrical current
Reference: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/led1.htm
Semiconductor Basics
 Semiconductors are made
from a poor conductor that
has had impurities (atoms
of another material) added to it.
This process is called
doping.
 When these two materials
are joined, a P-N Junction
is formed.
 A semiconductor with
extra electrons is called
N-type material, since
it has extra negativelycharged particles.
 A semiconductor with
extra holes is called
P-type material, since
it has extra positivelycharged particles.
At a P-N Junction, electrons can jump from hole to hole, moving
from a negatively-charged area to a positively-charged area. The
holes appear to move in the opposite direction. This Flow of
Charge is called Current!
The Diode:
a tiny “P-N Junction”!
A diode comprises a section of N-type material bonded to a section of P-type
material, with electrodes on each end. This arrangement conducts electricity in only
one direction.
When no voltage is applied, to the diode, electrons from the N-type material
fill holes from the P-type material along the junction between the layers,
forming a depletion zone. In a depletion zone, the semiconductor material is
returned to its original insulating state -- all of the holes are filled, so there are no
free electrons or empty spaces for electrons, and charge can't flow.
Ah-hah! Let’s put a Battery to it!
To get rid of the depletion zone, you have to get electrons moving from
the N-type area to the P-type area and holes moving in the reverse
direction.
To do this, you connect the N-type side of the diode to the negative end
of a circuit and the P-type side to the positive end.
The free electrons in the N-type material are repelled by the negative
electrode and drawn to the positive electrode. The holes in the P-type
material move the other way. When the voltage difference between
the electrodes is high enough, the electrons in the depletion zone
are boosted out of their holes and begin moving freely again. The
depletion zone disappears, and charge moves across the diode.
What happens if we Reverse it?
If you try to run current the other way, with the P-type side
connected to the negative end of the circuit and the N-type side
connected to the positive end, current will not flow. The negative
electrons in the N-type material are attracted to the positive electrode.
The positive holes in the P-type material are attracted to the negative
electrode. No current flows across the junction because the holes and
the electrons are each moving in the wrong direction. The depletion
zone increases.
The interaction between electrons and
holes in this setup has an interesting side
effect -- it generates light!
HOW Does a Diode produce light?
Summary
 A Diode is a common component in many electronic
applications.
 A Diode is a P-N junction that allows current to pass in
only one direction, under the right conditions.
 Light-emitting diodes, or LED’s emit light when
current is flowing across the diode.
Battery Tester
 Use a LED to build a circuit that will show a good battery
from a bad battery.
+
DIODE -
 Connected Correctly, A Good Battery will Light up the
LED!
Let’s Design the Circuit
 OHM’s LAW will help guide how we design the battery
tester circuit.
 OHM’s LAW states:
Voltage = Current x Resistance
V=IxR
 We write:
 Here:
 V = Voltage has units Volts
 I = Current has units Amps
 R = Resistance has units Ohms
Let’s Design the Circuit
 The conceptual design of
+
DIODE -
the battery tester circuit
(shown at right) will allow a
very high (almost infinite)
current to flow across the
diode.
 To prevent exceeding the
current spec of the diode,
we will use Ohm’s Law to
limit the current.
V=IR
Let’s Design the Circuit
 Rearranging V=IR, we see I = V/R.
 We choose R to achieve a current, I = V/R at a safe level
for the diode, using V = 9V, for a 9 volt battery.
V=IR
 Simply put, solve the equation!
 (The components have been selected for you and will
be provided in the lab.)
Battery Tester Circuit
Using Ohm’s Law, we arrive at the final Battery Tester
Circuit shown in the schematic!
+
+
BATTERY
-
RESISTOR
Used to limit
current.
LED: Which side is positive?
P
Positive Side is Round
Positive Lead is LONGER
Electrical Symbol
N
Build Battery Tester Circuit
 A fundamental skill needed to assemble electronic
projects is that of soldering.
 The idea is simple: Join electrical parts together to
form an electrical connection
 Use a molten mixture of lead and tin (solder) together
with a soldering iron.
For more information, see: http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/solderfaq.htm
Build Battery Tester Circuit in Lab
 Get components for
battery tester circuit:
 LED
 Resistor
 Battery Leads
 Attach these
components on a
circuit board & solder
connections between
them.
Photographs © 1996-2006 Alan Winstanley WORLD
COPYRIGHT RESERVED
Build Battery Tester Circuit in Lab
 RESOURCES:
 Online Soldering
Guide
 Engineering Staff
 Equipment in Rooms
305 & 311
Photographs © 1996-2006 Alan Winstanley WORLD
COPYRIGHT RESERVED
References
 Information & Photo Source – Slides 3 through 10 & 16
 How Stuff Works: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/led1.htm
 Wikipedia LED polarity photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:%2B-_of_LED.svg
 Copyright Notice – Information on Slide 17 & Photos Slide 18
 Everyday Practical Electronics Soldering Guide:
http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/solderfaq.htm
 Text © 1996-2006 Wimborne Publishing Limited, Wimborne, Dorset, England. Everyday
Practical Electronics Magazine has provided this document as a free web resource to help
constructors, trainees and students. You are welcome to download it, print it and
distribute it for personal or educational use. It may not be used in any commercial
publication, mirrored on any commercial site nor may it be appended to or amended, or
used or distributed for any commercial reason, without the prior permission of the
Publishers.
 Photographs © 1996-2006 Alan Winstanley WORLD COPYRIGHT RESERVED
 Presentation Created by: Alisa N. Gilmore, P.E. Department of Computer and
Electronics Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, July 2006; updated July
2007 and July 2008