A circuit diagram shows the path of electrical circuits connecting electronic devices with conductors. Pictorial and schematic maps are used to represent simple or complex industry standard symbols. Circuit diagrams are important for building and maintaining electronic devices. Symbols have evolved with changes in technology and are now globally standardized. Circuit diagrams have become a teaching tool and resource for repairing electronic devices.
A circuit diagram, also known as an electrical schematic or electronic diagram, graphically represents an electrical circuit. A circuit is a path that connects a group of electrical or electronic devices with conductors. The diagram in the electrical systems and components shows a map of the route and return of the electrical circuits. Pictorial maps, common for layman use, show simple, recognizable images, such as a broken line for a switch or a straight line for a wire. Schematic maps, often used by more advanced professionals, show the more complex industry standard symbols depicting amps or terminals or other electrical components.
Circuit diagrams are important as they illustrate the exact plan and path of the desired electrical circuit. Unlike a simple layout or wiring diagram, they do not show the physical arrangements of the circuit, but rather the basic circuit or wire connections of the electrical components within the electronic device. Professionals build electronics, build electrical systems, and maintain those systems with a wiring diagram as a guide. These schematics are identified based on their purpose: amplified circuit schematic, electronic circuit schematic, power circuit schematic, and power supply schematic, just to name a few.
As electrical technology has changed, electrical schematics have also changed. Older electronic devices like radios and other devices were once boxes that housed a twisted network of wires connected to internal conductors. Today, plastic circuit boards contain small grooves or mapped surfaces to direct narrow metal paths, called traces, to conductors within the electronic device. While the same basic concept remains – that of paths connecting conductors – circuit diagrams have evolved to reflect more complicated mappings and additions to modern electronic and electrical systems.
At one time, circuit diagram symbols varied by country of origin, but now the symbols are globally standardized. As the nature and technology of electronics has progressed, diagrams and their symbols have also progressed. For example, when the resistor was commonly used as a coil and wound so as not to produce inductance, the symbol for the resistor was a jagged zigzag line. Today, the resistor is no longer used in this way, but is symbolized by an oblong shape with the numerical value of ohms – the units of resistance – written inside to represent its use as a chip or metal-clad tube.
With the rise of electronics into typical everyday items such as coffee makers, vehicles, dishwashers, these diagrams have become a type of teaching tool and resource for repairing electronic devices. The diagram illustrates the path of electrical continuity. While it may seem complicated with its extensive use of symbols, this diagram is simply a map showing the path and connections of a circular path of electricity: the circuit.
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