How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic, Second Edition, 2nd Edition

Glossary

Here are some of the common terms you’ll encounter when working on electronic devices. There are plenty more, but you’ll see these often.

active elements The semiconductors at the heart of a circuit stage that perform amplification, switching or other signal-processing functions defining the stage’s operation. Transistors and integrated circuit chips (ICs) are active elements. Before solid-state electronics, the active element was the vacuum tube.

ADC Analog-to-digital converter. A device that converts analog signals to a digitally coded representation.

alternating current (AC) The polarity periodically reverses direction. Reversals may occur at any rate above zero cycles per second, or hertz, up to billions per second.

amperes (amps) ...