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Breadboards for Beginnersby Brennn10 on May 25, 2007

Table of Contents

Breadboards for Beginners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro:   Breadboards for Beginners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 1:   The Breadboard Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Step 2:   Connecting the Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Step 3:   Building a Circuit on the Breadboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

http://www.instructables.com/id/Breadboards-for-Beginners/

Author:Brennn10Brennn10 is now at college studying Electrical Engineering.

Intro:  Breadboards for BeginnersI see many Instructables, and other electronic projects using breadboards nowadays. Some people might think, "what is that?", or "How do I use it?" This Instructable willbe used to help you answer those questions!

Breadboards are used for testing and experimenting with electronic circuits. I find them extremely convenient because they require absolutely NO soldering, and you justhave to plug the component into the little holes that are provided on the breadboard.

Iguana Labs gave a few of these pictures and explanations. Thanks Iguana Labs!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Breadboards-for-Beginners/

Image Notes1. Plug in voltage source here on this row on holes2. These two rows are used for attaching the electronic components.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Breadboards-for-Beginners/

Step 1: The Breadboard ConnectionsBreadboards consist of tiny "holes" in which the leads of the component connect into. Make sure that if you are using wire, use wire links, not the stranded wire, becauseit will crumple in the holes and damage your breadboard.

The top and bottom rows (the rows indicated by the blue) and are usually the (+) and (-) power supply holes and these move horizontally across the breadboard, whilethe holes for the components move vertically Each hole is connected to the many metal strips that are running underneath.

Each wire forms a node. A node is a point in a circuit where two components are connected. Connections between different components are formed by putting their legsin a common node. On the bread board, a node is the row of holes that are connected by the strip of metal underneath.

The long top and bottom row of holes are usually used for power supply connections.

Image Notes1. Horizoontally (+) and (-) holes2. Holes for components going vertically

Step 2: Connecting the ComponentsThe rest of the circuit is built by placing components and connecting them together with jumper wires. Then when a path is formed by wires and components from thepositive supply node to the negative supply node, we can turn on the power and current flows through the path and the circuit comes alive.

For chips with many legs (ICs), place them in the middle of the board so that half of the legs are on one side of the middle line and half are on the other side.

A complete circuit might look like the one below.

Step 3: Building a Circuit on the BreadboardThe circuit schematic, and the layout on the breadboard will turn out entirely different. Anyone using a breadboard must focus on the connections rather than their placeon the schematic.

When you use switches or potentiometers, you must use single-core plastic-coated wire of 0.6mm diameter (the standard size). Stranded wire is not suitable because itwill crumple when pushed into a hole and it may damage the board if strands break off.

The rest of the circuit is built by placing components and connecting them together withjumper wires. Then when a path is formed by wires and components from the positivesupply node to the negative supply node, we can turn on the power and current flowsthrough the path and the circuit comes alive.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Breadboards-for-Beginners/

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Comments

37 comments Add Comment

 sam48415 says:  Feb 11, 2011. 4:54 PM  REPLYWhat the hell am i supposed to to do with the metal sheet that came, does it go on the back...why? (i assumed it went on back because of ahesive on it)

 Astro8Nerd says:  Oct 14, 2010. 6:24 PM  REPLYI'm a Sophomore in a High School for Construction Trades Engineering & Architecture ( Btw that's actually my Skool name) , and I'm Majoring InEngineering, and in my school they Teach Digital Electronics to engineering sophomores, and my Teacher demanded that we all get a BreadBoard, sincethen he's been teaching us how to do all of this stuff, today actually learned about parallel circuits, and some times i just don't understand what he is saying,not because this stuff is hard, but only because he has a thick Egyptian Accent, anyway i just wanted to say this Actually helped a lot, Homework is a breeze,thankss!!!

 Brennn10 says:  Oct 14, 2010. 6:46 PM  REPLYI am glad to hear it! Good luck in your studies, and stick with it!

 Astro8Nerd says:  Oct 14, 2010. 7:10 PM  REPLYThanks i will, But can you give any tips on connecting LEDs? im actually stuck doing this, and i my teacher really never explained how exactly we doit

 TheJenx says:  Sep 11, 2010. 11:24 AM  REPLYSorry, I'm new to this- can you explain what jumper wires are? I googled it but they just look like very short wires with the insulation stripped off the ends.

 elpaps1993 says:  Sep 15, 2009. 2:19 AM  REPLYcan u tech me?

 YellowZealot says:  Apr 6, 2010. 9:06 AM  REPLY That's what this instructable is for. Read it, CAREFULLY, and for the love of god spell correctly.

 D_H says:  Feb 14, 2010. 7:03 AM  REPLYGood Lord! I just bought a breadboard.Seriously got curious and broke it apart to see what it was insideIts got some comb like structures. So... anyone planning to break open their board , save it.... (Nice Instructo there buddy)!

 lillabibba says:  Jul 27, 2009. 8:14 AM  REPLYNice Instructable, very helpful!

 Brennn10 says:  Jul 27, 2009. 8:18 AM  REPLYThanks!

 geeklord says:  Oct 2, 2008. 7:36 PM  REPLYthx. Its surprising to me how much ive learned about electronics(aka how much ive become a geek-_-) through instructables!!!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Breadboards-for-Beginners/

 zoltzerino says:  Mar 16, 2009. 1:51 PM  REPLYI agree with geeklord - a complete ditto of his comment.

 fallenspirit123 says:  Oct 12, 2008. 7:26 PM  REPLYYeah, don't even get me started!!! man I love instructables!!!! This instructable has taught me alot

 mariofan203 says:  May 29, 2009. 7:20 AM  REPLYinstructables are awesome

 TheWelfareWarrior says:  Nov 28, 2008. 7:06 PM  REPLYWow, thanks, I just bought a solderless breadboard (i figured it'd save me messups on a regluar one) on a whim and couldn't figure it out for the life of me.Whats the most curent i can put to this bad boy?

 DYLEGO says:  Dec 6, 2008. 9:36 PM  REPLYyou treat it just like wire. put as much current as you trhink fit. i wouldn't put more than a few thousand volts on it, just to stay well out of the peak voltagerange... how many volts are you wanting to put in?

 TheWelfareWarrior says:  Dec 7, 2008. 5:05 PM  REPLYcurrent... or amps... are what make heat/fry things...

 vivennex says:  Nov 7, 2008. 9:54 AM  REPLYThanks mate for the information.Instead of damaging the parts of the bot with soldering its better to breadboard the circuit before.

 =SMART= says:  Sep 5, 2008. 2:59 PM  REPLYDang im still pretty confused but this has helped alot ! Thanks Brennn10 :D

 Unit042 says:  Jul 17, 2008. 9:40 AM  REPLYNice ible, it's nice to see someone covering electronics basics in a clear, and comprehensible manner. One mistake I saw, is that on the intro image, youmention "rows" when you point at columns. You might want to double check.

 Derin says:  Jun 25, 2008. 9:28 AM  REPLYoh man the strands are nothing i broke a graphite lead inside one

 Hoverboy06 says:  Apr 2, 2008. 2:45 PM  REPLYUgh, I hated these things in my electronics class (e-fundies), and I was very relieved to finally just solder everything. They are good for beginners and labs,though.

 znorris says:  Sep 10, 2007. 11:35 PM  REPLYLooks like a big chunk of this instructable was taken directly from:IguanaLabsIf you aren't associated with them, please at least give them credit.

OH and thanks for posting it, i learned something new.

 Brennn10 says:  Sep 11, 2007. 3:30 AM  REPLYDone, and done! Thanks!

 Scissorman says:  Jun 10, 2007. 2:34 PM  REPLYI bought one a few weeks ago. Breadboard, jumpers etc. I just don't have any components yet. Yah Boo sucks to me. I will be back to reread this when I do.Any suggestions for a cool project for an ABSOLUTE noob?

 acaz93 says:  Jun 10, 2007. 4:42 PM  REPLYFor Beginner , I recomend this THis One ,And this

http://www.instructables.com/id/Breadboards-for-Beginners/

 Brennn10 says:  Jun 10, 2007. 3:41 PM  REPLYI suggest buying the book, "Electronics Projects for Dummies" All the projects use breadboards, and the projects give you a list of all the parts, and astep by step instruction, on how to go about building them. It also has lots of pictures which helps a lot too.

 bobbyrae says:  Jun 1, 2009. 4:48 AM  REPLYI have read through that book, I believe that Earl Boysen is one of the authors. It is a good book in regards to breadboarding. Another book I have,which I like even better for this is Circuitbuilding for Dummies by H. Ward Silver.

 Scissorman says:  Jun 14, 2007. 6:21 PM  REPLYI have this book. It's great although I need the version called 'Electronics for F**kwits.

 Brennn10 says:  Jun 14, 2007. 8:14 PM  REPLYIs thata joke, or an actual book?

 Scissorman says:  Jun 15, 2007. 5:38 PM  REPLYIt really should be a book. Unfortunately it doesn't exist.

 Myself says:  Jun 10, 2007. 1:55 AM  REPLYThe Radio Shack breadboard pictured in step 3 offers a unique teaching opportunity. Unlike the more common style pictured in the intro and step 2, thecheap RS model uses a sticker as its underside. Peeling that sticker back will reveal the horizontal and vertical buses, a picture of which could be veryinstructive.

 T3h_Muffinator says:  Jun 9, 2007. 8:58 PM  REPLYWooo!

Breadboards are the best, they save a lot of soldering time. The absolute BEST for prototyping and debugging!

I'm using two breadboards right now, and I'm so glad that I have them as my nice little pets.

You might want to make a note; BREADBOARDS ARE NOT EDIBLE, unless you really want to taste them =P

 Brennn10 says:  Jun 9, 2007. 8:32 PM  REPLYWell breadboards have been new to me the past few months. If you want to add to it, I can make you a collaborator. You probably can add some moreinfo on the circuit making etc. etc.

 T3h_Muffinator says:  Jun 9, 2007. 9:08 PM  REPLYI wouldn't be able to add something for quite a while (I'm super busy, unfortunately, with school.)

 PocketSized says:  Jun 9, 2007. 7:11 PM  REPLYI remember when I first started electronics (not that I'm anygood now). I'd never even touched a resistor but decided to buy myself a breadboard just for theshear excitement of it, needless to say I was rather simple minded and it didn't take long before the breadboard stumped me... lol, what I would have givenfor an Instructable all about my new mystical 'thing' that I had brought. nice job.

 Brennn10 says:  Jun 9, 2007. 6:56 PM  REPLYIm glad I can help : )