Basic Electronics for Tomorrow's Inventors

Book excerpt: Learn about electronics with fun experiments and projects Created in partnership with Thames & Kosmos, Basic Electronics for Tomorrow's Inventors introduces you to essential electronics concepts through fun, do-it-yourself projects. You'll get tips for setting up your home workbench, safely handling materials, and creating a variety of entertaining gadgets. All of the projects and experiments use inexpensive, readily available electronic components and different types of breadboard, which creates a plug-and-play environment for you to build electronic circuits—no soldering required! Inside you'll find: Things You'll Need--lists of all the electronic components and equipment required for each experiment A Circuit Diagram--shows how each of the electronic components are connected to produce the experiment How the Circuit Works--identifies the building blocks used to make the circuit and helps you read circuit diagrams Breadboard Layout--close-up photographs that guide you in building each electronic circuit Time to Experiment--explains how to get your experiment working Step-by-step projects include: Phone experiments Make an LED light up Make an LED flash Create colors with an RGB LED Build a working telephone Dashboard experiments Create indicator lights Build a temperature sensor Make an electronic horn Set up a water sensor Security experiments Design a basic alarm circuit Make a pressure-sensitive mat Create a touch-activated alarm Build an electronic security keypad Make a reading light that switches on when it goes dark Electronic game experiments Create a random number generator Flip an electronic coin Get ready for infrared target practice Build a sound-effects generator