← Electronics syllabus

EnglandElectronics

Component 1 Discovering Electronics

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How does a capacitor charging through a resistor create a time delay?

Capacitors and time delays: charge stored on a capacitor, the RC time constant, and how a charging capacitor in a potential divider produces a time delay.
An Eduqas GCSE Electronics answer on capacitors and time delays: what a capacitor stores, the charge equation Q = CV, the RC time constant, the exponential charge and discharge of a capacitor through a resistor, and how this makes a time-delay circuit.
13 min answer →

Why does an LED need a series resistor, and how do you calculate its value?

Driving LEDs: the need for a current-limiting series resistor, the forward voltage drop of an LED, and calculating the resistor value for a chosen current.
An Eduqas GCSE Electronics answer on driving LEDs: why an LED needs a series current-limiting resistor, the LED forward voltage drop, and calculating the resistor value from the supply voltage, forward voltage and forward current.
12 min answer →

What types of resistor are used in circuits, and how are their values read and chosen?

Fixed and variable resistors: preferred (E-series) values, the resistor colour code, tolerance, and variable resistors (potentiometers and rheostats).
An Eduqas GCSE Electronics answer on fixed and variable resistors: reading the four-band colour code, preferred E-series values and tolerance, and how variable resistors are used as potentiometers and rheostats.
12 min answer →

How does a potential divider produce a chosen fraction of the supply voltage?

Potential dividers: the potential-divider equation, choosing resistor values for a target output voltage, and the effect of loading the output.
An Eduqas GCSE Electronics answer on potential dividers: how two series resistors split the supply, the potential-divider equation, choosing resistor values for a target output voltage, and how connecting a load changes the output.
13 min answer →

How do LDRs and thermistors turn light and temperature into a changing voltage?

Sensing subsystems: light-dependent resistors and thermistors, their resistance behaviour, and building light and temperature sensing circuits with potential dividers.
An Eduqas GCSE Electronics answer on sensing subsystems: how a light-dependent resistor and an NTC thermistor change resistance, and how to build light and temperature sensing circuits with potential dividers, including choosing which way round to put the sensor.
12 min answer →