EEWeb Electronics Forum
Basic Electronic Components
Posted by Circuit Negma on March 10, 2008
All components used in electronic circuits have three basic properties, known as resistance, capacitance, and inductance. In most cases, however, one of these properties will be far more prevalent than the other two. Therefore we can treat components as having only one of these three properties and exhibiting the appropriate behavior according to the following definitions:
- Resistance
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The property of a component to oppose the flow of electrical current through itself.
- Capacitance
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The property of a component to oppose any change in voltage across its terminals, by storing and releasing energy in an internal electric field.
- Inductance
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The property of a component to oppose any change in current through itself, by storing and releasing energy in a magnetic field surrounding itself.
As you might expect, components whose main property is resistance are called resistors; those that exhibit capacitance are called capacitors, and the ones that primarily have inductance are called inductors.
Circuit Negma 
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