To show how a circuit is put together, and what components are used, draw a diagram of the circuit. A simple circuit requires at least three things: A source of energy, a conductive path of usually wire, and an electrical resistor such as a lightbulb, speaker or electric motor. Each component is represented by its own symbol. The drawing of the circuit will not necessarily look just as the actual circuit will, so focus on the connections, not the layout of the board.
Instructions
1 A dry cell battery Draw the power supply with the positive (+) symbol at the top and the negative (-) on the bottom. The diagram will begin at the positive and end at the negative. Draw a line that will be perpendicular to the line that will be drawn for the wire to represent the positive side. A shorter perpendicular line is used for the negative side. There will be empty space between them.
2 A ruler Draw a straight line from the positive side of the power source to the first component, using a ruler for best results. Make the diagram square, despite the actual layout of the circuit. Draw a blob for each wire juncture.
3 Various electronic components Draw the correct symbol for the component, for example, the resistor is drawn as a rectangle, and the capacitor is similar to the symbol for a battery, except that the perpendicular lines are the same length.
4 A resistor. The colored bands denote the resistance value. Label components such as resistors and capacitors with their values.
