Age of Electronics

Electronics is the science or practice of using electricity in devices similar to transistors and radio tubes so as to get results not possible with ordinary electrical equipment.

Most persons know how electrical current flows in motors and transformers; here the electricity always flows in the copper wire or other metal parts. When electricity passes through space as occurs within a tube, such action is called electronic. More recently, when layers of semiconductor metals are joined together so that current flows through the junction in one direction only, as in solid-state diode or a transistor, such action is also called electronic. If a device passes its stream of electrons through internal space, or through the junction where certain different metals meet, the device is called electronic.

Without electronics there might be no radio, television, sound pictures or long-distance telephone calls. Most of these equipment serve to carry or give information; so communication early was a main purpose of electronics and still holds interest of many workers and students in this field.

Meanwhile industry seeking faster and more accurate methods of production has adapted electronic equipment to its own needs. Gradually during the past fifty years industrial plants have installed electronic equipment to give better operation of motors along with control of varied operations.

Some people believe that electronic devices can hear, see, feel, smell or even think; this is true only when the sound, image, feeling or thought can be changed into electrical signal, to which the transistor or tube-operated device can then respond. Much of the success of electronics depends on the methods used to obtain an electric signal that can be used to stimulate the electronic device into action. The electronic circuit can be made to detect such a signal, increase its strength and put it to useful work.

Вправа 3. Дайте відповіді на питання.

1. What is electronics?

2. What device is called electronic?

3. What was the main purpose of electronics?

4. What has industry adapted to its own needs?

5. What does much of the success of electronics depend on?

Вправа 4. Виберіть правильне твердження.

1. Electronics is the science or practice of using electricity in devices similar to transistors and radio tubes so as to get results not possible with ordinary electrical equipment.

2. When electricity passes through space as occurs within a tube such action is called a direct current.

3. Communication is the main purpose of electronics.

4. During the last 50 years industrial plants haven’t installed electronic equipment yet.

5. Electronic devices can’t hear, see, feel, smell or think when the sound, image, feeling or thought is changed into electrical signal.

6. The electronic circuit can be made to detect electric signal, increase its strength and put it to useful work.

Вправа 5. Перекладіть текст, виписуючи незнайому лексику.

Semiconductor Diodes

In electronics, a diode is a two-terminal electronic component with asymmetric conductance; it has low (ideally zero) resistance to current in one direction, and high (ideally infinite) resistance in the other. A semiconductor diode, the most common type today, is a crystalline piece of semiconductor material with a p–n junction connected to two electrical terminals. A vacuum tube diode has two electrodes, a plate (anode) and a heated cathode. Semiconductor diodes were the first semiconductor electronic devices. The discovery of crystals' rectifying abilities was made by German physicist Ferdinand Braun in 1874. The first semiconductor diodes, developed around 1906, were made of mineral crystals such as galena. Today, most diodes are made of silicon, but other semiconductors such as selenium or germanium are sometimes used.