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I'm curious about electronic/electric. I just want some visual, easy to understand explanation/depiction about basic nature of electric current/voltage, relations between them, why electrons make a light up, a batteries run gradually out and suchlike.

May someone list me some useful books/online site which address these topics? (Sorry if this question is so basic)

Thanks.

Updated:

In short, I want some books/website that I can learn to become an hand-dirty electronic technician other than a truly engineer. My background is in electrical engineering. Thanks in advance.

bnguyen82
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  • Probably what you are looking for is explained in some basic (highschool maybe) physics book; if you want something more formal, look for university textbooks about electromagnetism. And learn [this song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igcr5uPt5Hg) :) – clabacchio Mar 21 '12 at 10:21
  • http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/6312/what-is-an-amp-and-other-such-basic-questions-in-the-simplest-possible-terms – Toby Jaffey Mar 21 '12 at 10:44
  • @clabacchio Actually, I passed some undergraduate courses on electrical engineering :) However, in these courses, electric was explained under the light of advanced mathematics. That's why these courses all slipped my mind. So I want visual resources to explain these with everyday life words. (a website is the best) – bnguyen82 Mar 22 '12 at 06:21
  • @clabacchio I've updated my questions to be clearer. – bnguyen82 Mar 22 '12 at 06:35
  • I'm glad that ssteven's answers is good for you; anyway, I don't understand if you want to learn what IS electricity or if you want practical knowledge (you said you want to become a technician) – clabacchio Mar 22 '12 at 07:00
  • Sorry for misunderstanding. I want to have practical knowledge as a technician. That said, I have ability to explain electronic phenomenons with simple, easy words. And to repair some simple electronic devices, Anyway, I already have my job as a software engineer :) – bnguyen82 Mar 22 '12 at 11:14

1 Answers1

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An often used model to explain electricity and electric current is the water model. Voltage then becomes water pressure (which agrees with water column level), and current becomes water flow through pipes. The thinner the pipe diameter the higher the resistance and the less current will flow.

If you talk about lighting, do you mean incandescent lighting? That is caused by the heating up of a filament because of the power generated in its resistance. The temperature becomes so high that the filament glows white hot. At lower currents you will have an orange/red glow.

stevenvh
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  • Yes, your explanation is so clear. Wander if there is a popular website out there providing animations? I try googling some but to no avail. – bnguyen82 Mar 22 '12 at 06:27