Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?

#41

Post by samstave » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 1:51 PM UTC

Kim_Bruning wrote: post #11

The Minecraft mod Electrical Age is surprisingly useful to (literally play around and) get a feel for things. It was originally designed to teach electrical engineers once upon a time. Currently it's been a bit gamified -sure-, but the core MNA solver is still there. Still somewhat surprising to me, this kind of simulation actually does help. It turns out that you actually do pick up a lot of intuitive feel that can…

Problem: there is a difference of velocity of understanding between guided experimentation vs study vs mentorship...

(Many fail and are put off to learning the subject whenthere is no person they personally know to guide them through speed bumps)

Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?

#42

Post by TheHideout » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 1:52 PM UTC

You might find the Navy Electricity and Electronics Training Series helpful: https://www.fcctests.com/neets/Neets.htm

Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?

#43

Post by walrus01 » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 1:56 PM UTC

I recommend the videos at this channel. Start with the basics.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk0fGHsCEzGig-rSzkfCjMw

Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?

#44

Post by thehappypm » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 1:57 PM UTC

samjohnson wrote: post #39

projektfu wrote: post #36

I remember in high school I had trouble getting it because I thought ohms law had too many variables. Then I realized that a 5V supply will always be 5V in normal operation and ohms law means the current varies. All of the water analogies were unhelpful for me. I did better just doing the math and seeing the result. Someone else mentioned MITx. I did that and it was revolutionary. I also have a pretty good book calle…

> Then I realized that a 5V supply will always be 5V in normal operation and ohms law means the current varies. This is a great observation. I've often thought that teaching Ohms law as I=V/R would lead to less confusion. Similarly, in intro physics why is mass acceleration introduced as f=ma? Wouldn't a=f/m have a clearer meaning?

Division is hard!

Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?

#45

Post by coldpie » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 1:58 PM UTC

morganvachon wrote: post #40

I'm showing my age here, but I got my start with the series of books by Forrest Mims that were available in Radio Shack stores since the 70s. They are written to be understood by complete novices, and they have hand-drawn circuits with everything explained. http://www.forrestmims.org/publications.html

Holy moly, I had these too. My parents had them in their library, I read them growing up in the 90s. I haven't read them since then, but I do have fond memories of them. It's not like basic electronics has changed since they were written, and I imagine you can get them for real cheap today.

Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?

#46

Post by patterns » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 1:59 PM UTC

I recommend having a look at "Practical Electronics for Inventors" by Paul Scherz and Simon Monk. The book offers a very good introduction about the basics of electricity with many helpful illustrations, written in a down-to-earth style. In case you are interested in electronics, you will find that the book covers many intermediate/advanced topics such as operational amplifiers with lots of practical examples.

Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?

#47

Post by basjacobs » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 1:59 PM UTC

I highly recommend the All About Circuits textbook: https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/

It starts from the very basics and builds up to quite complex circuits and their workings. It's an all-round great website, too.

Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?

#48

Post by coldpie » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 2:00 PM UTC

blueatlas wrote: post #25

Try "Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software." It provides a very simple introduction to electricity. Beyond that, it's just a great introductory book on computing. https://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Softw...

I absolutely love this book, but I'd say it's more an intro to computing (like you said) than electricity. Electricity is in there, but IIRC it doesn't go much further than the "water analogy" style of thinking about electricity.

Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?

#49

Post by tyingq » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 2:06 PM UTC

The training program offered by the US Navy is quite good. Because they can only have so many people on a ship, the Navy tries not to be as specialized as the other services. So, electronic techs are expected to have especially good foundational knowledge so they can work on a broad variety of equipment.

https://www.fcctests.com/neets/Neets.htm

Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?

#50

Post by Koshkin » Thu, Jun 18, 2020, 2:11 PM UTC

The Demystified series of books is pretty good - lots of examples, with exercises and quizzes. On the topic, the series includes Electricity Demystified and Electronics Demystified by S.Gibilisco.