The idea for AddOhms #8 has been around for quite some time. I’m always trying to find ways to explain why current limiting resistors are necessary. So while working in the shop one day, I decided to play with some LEDs and a bench-power supply. Then I decided to record what happens.
Getting started with electronics always involves a discussion of Ohm’s Law. What is this mysterious sounding law and how can you use it when building electronic projects? One the main uses for Ohm’s Law in your projects is to calculate the resistor value needed for a LED. This article takes a look at what Ohm’s Law is and how to use it with LEDs.
Documentation, Documentation. Documentation.
It is always critical to document progress is a log book. If using an electronic tool like Evernote or a Blog, it can be difficult to document equations or calculations you’ve made in a project.
Vision Objects has put together a demo tool that allows for writing your equation in freehand which then uses image recognition to covert into LaTeX code.
For convenience, there is a direct link to WolframAlpha to calculate the equation. A preview of the LaTeX Equation is provided by the open-source MathJax javascript rendering engine.