Hyperphysics presents a organized tree-like view of concepts, terminology and examples. It's easy to click around and start building up a mental model of how things relate: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html
Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?
31–40 of 184 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?
#32Try ElectroBOOM channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/msadaghd
Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?
#33Before you try to understand electricity try to understand work and energy. Know the definition for a watt and what that means mechanically for example.
For really basic things: maxewels equations, ohms law, and the idea that in a closed system potential and kinetic energy are constant. Just grab a university level physics book.
V=IR (ohms law) gives you most of what you need for DC circuits. Remember that power is volts x amps so you can exchange one for the other (for free in an ideal world.)
Alternatively if you want a practical understanding here’s what I learned from as a kid: forest mim’s book (it’s wrong in some ways but it works) the art of electronics (this has anything you could want to know and is well organized and written, like an O’Reilly book for electronics in general) and this really old book I found in a used book store titled “introduction to pulse circuits.”
Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?
#34Hyperphysics presents a organized tree-like view of concepts, terminology and examples. It's easy to click around and start building up a mental model of how things relate: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html
I love that site! They’ve got a lot of neat stuff on holograms too.
Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?
#35Take a look at these articles - they start with first principles:
Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?
#36I 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 called Practical Electronics for Inventors.
Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?
#37I 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…
Also, don’t get hung up on electrons moving opposite the current. It’s not a big deal for most applications.
Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?
#38Have a look at https://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/electronics/
It's from the developer of AFL and the Guerilla Guide to CNC. Check out the root domain for lots more interesting stuff.
Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?
#39I 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?
Re: Ask HN: What are some good resources to learn how electricity works?
#40I'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.