Back in the days, when I was just a teenager, I remember reading about the "water analogy". Comparing electronics to water. I didn't like it. Because
| Back in the days, when I was just a teenager, I remember reading about the "water analogy". Comparing electronics to water. I didn't like it. Because I didn't get it. I found a lot of things that just didn't make sense to me when thinking about circuits as water.
In an email last week, I tried to better explain voltage and current. I got creative and tried to compare a circuit to a fountain. It was meant to help you cope with this fact: "the current going out from a battery is the same as the current going into it" If it helped - great! If not, just ignore it. But don't make the same mistake as I did: Circuits are not like fountains!
I got a few emails from people pointing out that some of the water in a fountain becomes vapor. Yes, that's correct. And I'm sure you can find many more things that won't make sense when you compare a fountain and a circuit. So please don't try to make sense of circuits in general by thinking of a fountain. Many things won't make sense.
The point was just that the energy isn't the water itself, but the water carries the energy. In a vapor-less world, the water won't be "used up" in a fountain. Just like current isn't "used up" in a circuit.
Keep On Soldering!
Oyvind @ build-electronic-circuits.com PS! Whenever you're ready, here are two ways I can help you learn electronics: - Get the eBook Getting Started With Electronics: A short and beginner-friendly eBook I wrote to help people get started. It contains clear and simple instructions to get started building electronics. If you're new, this is the perfect place to start.
- Join Ohmify: Ohmify is for people interested in electronics who want to learn skills like PCB design, soldering, and project-building. You'll get a proper understanding of the basics. And you'll learn to build practical projects that solve real problems.
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