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May 10, 2017 · 10. You decide which rails are positive and which are negative when you connect them to the + an - from your power supply or battery. A breadboard isn't polarised per se. It's just a bunch of cross-connections inside a perforated plastic case. No active or passive components inside.
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- Prototype
- More About Breadboards
- Introduction
- What Is Inside A breadboard?
- Breadboard Labels: Rows, Columns, and Buses
- Using A Breadboard
- Common Mistakes and Troubleshooting
- Advanced
What is a breadboard?
A breadboard is a rectangular plastic board with a bunch of tiny holes in it. These holes let you easily insert electronic components to prototype (meaning to build and test an early version of) an electronic circuit, like this one with a battery, switch, resistor, and an LED (light-emitting diode). To learn more about individual electronic components, see our Electronics Primer. The connections are not permanent, so it is easy to removea component if you make a mistake, or just start over an...
Where does the name "breadboard" come from?
You might be wondering what any of this has to do with bread. The term breadboardcomes from the early days of electronics, when people would literally drive nails or screws into wooden boards on which they cut bread in order to connect their circuits. Luckily, since you probably do not want to ruin all your cutting boards for the sake of an electronics project, today there are better options.
Are there different kinds of breadboards?
Modern breadboards are made from plastic, and come in all shapes, sizes, and even different colors. While larger and smaller sizes are available, the most common sizes you will probably see are "full-size," "half-size," and "mini" breadboards. Most breadboards also come with tabs and notches on the sides that allow you to snap multiple boards together. However, a single half-sized breadboard is sufficient for many beginner-level projects.
The leads can fit into the breadboard because the insideof a breadboard is made up of rows of tiny metal clips. This is what the clips look like when they are removed from a breadboard. When you press a component's lead into a breadboard hole, one of these clips grabs onto it. Some breadboards are actually made of transparent plastic, so you can se...
What do the letters and numbers on a breadboard mean?
Most breadboards have some numbers, letters, and plus and minus signs written on them. What does all that mean? While their exact appearance might vary from breadboard to breadboard, the general purpose is always the same. These labels help you locate certain holes on the breadboard so you can follow directions when building a circuit. If you have ever used a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel® or Google Sheets™, the concept is exactly the same. Row numbers and column letters help you i...
What do the colored lines and plus and minus signs mean?
What about the long strips on the side of the breadboard, highlighted in yellow here? These strips are typically marked by red and blue (or red and black) lines, with plus (+) and minus (-) signs, respectively. They are called the buses, also referred to as rails, and are typically used to supply electrical power to your circuit when you connect them to a battery pack or other external power supply. You may hear the buses referred to by different names; for example, power bus, positive bus, a...
How are the holes connected?
Remember that the inside of the breadboard is made up of sets of five metal clips. This means that each set of five holes forming a half-row (columns A–E or columns F–J) is electrically connected. For example, that means hole A1 is electrically connected to holes B1, C1, D1, and E1. It is not connected to hole A2, because that hole is in a different row, with a separate set of metal clips. It is also not connected to holes F1, G1, H1, I1, or J1, because they are on the other "half" of the bre...
What is a breadboard diagram?
A breadboard diagram is a computer-generated drawing of a circuit on a breadboard. Unlike a circuit diagram or a schematic (which use symbols to represent electronic components; see the Advanced section to learn more), breadboard diagrams make it easy for beginners to follow instructions to build a circuit because they are designed to look like the "real thing." For example, this diagram (made with a free program called Fritzing) shows a basic circuit with a battery pack, an LED, a resistor,...
Does my circuit have to match the breadboard diagram exactly?
The short answer is "no." However, when you are first starting out using breadboards, it is probably best to follow the breadboard diagrams exactly. To understand this, it helps to understand how a breadboard's holes are electrically connected. There are different ways to change the physical layout of a circuit on a breadboard without actually changing the electrical connections. For example, these two circuits are electrically identical; even though the leads of the LED have moved, there is...
What are jumper wires and what kind should I use?
Jumper wires are wires that are used to make connections on a breadboard. They have stiff ends that are easy to push into the breadboard holes. There are several different options available when purchasing jumper wires. Flexible jumper wires are made of a flexible wire with a rigid pin attached to both ends. These wires usually come in packs of varying colors. This makes it easy to color-code your circuit (see the section on color-coding). While these wires are easy to use for beginner circui...
Getting row numbers wrong
Can you spot the difference between these two circuits? At first glance, they might look exactly the same. However, when we turn the battery packs on, only the LED on the left lights up. What is wrong? Let us take a look at the breadboard diagram for the circuit to see if we can spot the problem. The circuit should match this diagram: Now, let us take a closer look at the two circuits. Carefully compare the two pictures to the breadboard diagram. Can you spot what is wrong? If you still canno...
Getting power and ground mixed up
Similar to getting row numbers wrong, getting the power and ground buses mixed up is another common mistake. Can you spot the difference between these two circuits? Only the LED on the left lights up. Let us take a closer look at the circuits. Can you spot what is wrong? Click on the image to reveal the problem. Do you see the problem yet? In the photo on the left, the red jumper wire goes to the positive (+) bus. In the photo on the right, it goes to the negative (-) bus. According to the br...
Not pushing leads and wires in all the way
Electronic components and jumper wires can all have leads of varying lengths. Sometimes students will only push leads partiallyinto a breadboard hole, instead of pushing them down firmly all the way (until they cannot go any farther). This can result in loose connections that lead to strange circuit behavior, like an LED flickering on and off. Take a look at these two side-by-side images. The image on the left shows leads that have not been pushed into the breadboard all the way. The picture...
Integrated circuits
Integrated circuits, or ICs for short (sometimes just referred to as "chips") are specialized circuits that serve a huge variety of purposes, such as controlling a robot's motors or making LEDs respond to music. Many ICs come in something called a dual in-line package, or DIP, meaning they have two parallel rows of pins. The gap in the middle of a breadboard (between columns E and F) is just the right width for an IC to fit, straddling the gap, with one set of pins in column E, and one set of...
Circuit diagrams
Circuit diagrams, or schematics, are a way to represent a circuit using symbols for each component. Circuit diagrams, as opposed to breadboard diagrams, are used by professional engineers when designing circuits, and they are much more convenient for more complicated circuits. You may be introduced to basic circuit diagrams in a high school physics class. For example, this circuit diagram shows a basic circuit with a battery, a switch, an LED, and a resistor. However, unlike breadboard diagra...
Through-hole vs. surface mount parts
Breadboards are designed to work with through-hole electronic components. These components have long metal leads that are designed to be inserted through holes in a printed circuit board(PCB) that are plated with a thin copper coating, which allows the components' leads to be soldered to the board. Breadboards do not work with surface mountcomponents. These components have short, flat pins on their sides that are designed to be soldered to the surface of a printed circuit board, instead of th...
Slide the stripped end of your jumper wire through the hole, and screw the post back down until the wire is firmly connected. Typically, you only need to connect a power and ground wire from the posts to the breadboard. If you need an alternate power source, you can use the third post.
Polarity is a very important concept, especially when it comes to physically building circuits. Whether you're plugging parts into a breadboard, soldering them to a PCB, or sewing them into an e-textile project, it's critical to be able to identify polarized components and to connect them in the correct direction.
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Jan 6, 2023 · The term breadboard has two common meanings today, each distinct from the other. Unsurprisingly, on this site, we’re not going to talk about a wooden surface for slicing a loaf on! In modern electronics and engineering, a breadboard refers to a (usually) solder-free, plug-and-play platform allowing for speedy insertion and removal of ...
- There are many different types of electronic breadboards, and ultimately, the best breadboard for you would depend on your specific requirements. T...
- Why are breadboards called breadboards? The term breadboard originates from the early days of electronics when prototyping circuits involved the us...
- The size of the holes in a breadboard refers to the diameter or width of the holes where you insert the leads of electronic components or jumper wi...
Jan 18, 2023 · Here’s a simple circuit diagram of a resistor and LED connected to a 9V battery: To connect this circuit to a breadboard, first connect the resistor, making sure the pins are on different rows. Then connect the LED, making sure its negative leg is connected to the same row as the upper leg of the resistor. This is such a simple circuit, that ...
As noted in the introduction to this guide, by far the most common function of a breadboard in everyday use is in prototyping applications. The fact that solderless breadboards don’t require circuitry components to be affixed semi-permanently to the surface of a PBC makes it much easier and quicker to manoeuvre and swap them until you achieve ...
