What is Electronics?
[[File:Electronic circuit.jpg|thumb|295x295px|A [[printed circuit board]].]] '''Electronics''' is the study of [[electricity]] (the flow of [[electron|electrons]]) and how to use that to build things like computers. It uses [[Electrical circuit|circuits]] that are made with parts called [[Electronic component|components]] and connecting wires to do useful things. The science behind electronics comes from the study of [[physics]] and gets applied in real-life ways through the field of [[electrical engineering]]. Many people can name several simple electronic components, such as transistors, fuses, circuit breakers, batteries, motors, transformers, LEDs and bulbs, but as the number of components starts to increase, it often helps to think in terms of smaller systems or blocks, which can be connected together to do something useful. One way of looking at an [[electronic system]] is to separate it into three parts: # Inputs - Electrical or mechanical [[sensor]]s, which take [[signal (electrical engineering)|signals]] from the physical world (in the form of temperature, pressure, etc.) and convert them into electric current and voltage signals. # Signal processing circuits - These consist of electronic components connected together to manipulate, interpret and transform the information contained in the signals. # Outputs - [[Actuator]]s or other devices that transform current and voltage signals back into human readable information. A [[television]] set, for example, has as its input a [[broadcast]] signal received from an [[antenna]], or for [[cable television]], a cable. Signal processing circuits inside the television set use the [[brightness]], [[colour]], and [[sound]] information contained in the received signal to control the television set's output devices. The display output device may be a [[cathode ray tube]] (CRT) or a [[Plasma (physics)|plasma]] or [[liquid crystal display]] screen. The audio output device might be a [[magnetic]]ally driven audio [[loudspeaker|speaker]]. The display output devices c