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The Open University

An introduction to electronics

The Open University via OpenLearn

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Overview

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Electronics is fundamental to modern life. Using an interactive website, videos, and easy-to-use electronic circuit design and simulation software, this free course, An introduction to electronics, will show how electronic devices and systems pervade everything we do, and teach some of the basic ideas.

Syllabus

  • Introduction
  • Learning outcomes
  • 1 Electronics everywhere
  • 1 Electronics everywhere
  • 1.1 Autonomous systems
  • Sensing
  • Logic
  • Actuation
  • 1.2 The sensing–logic–actuation cycle in practice
  • 2 Basic theory of electrical circuits
  • 2 Basic theory of electrical circuits
  • 2.1  Basic electrical quantities
  • 2.2  Relationships between quantities
  • 2.3 Ohm’s law and Kirchhoff ’s laws
  • Ohm’s law
  • Kirchhoff ’s laws
  • Series and parallel networks (combining the laws)
  • 2.4 Colour coding and standard resistor values
  • 3 Some fundamental circuits
  • 3 Some fundamental circuits
  • 3.1 Voltage dividers
  • 3.2 The Wheatstone bridge
  • 3.3  Operational amplifier circuits
  • 3.4  Designing a sensor circuit
  • 4  Signals and signal processing
  • 4  Signals and signal processing
  • 4.1  High-fidelity sound reproduction and electronics
  • 4.2  Recording sounds
  • 4.3  Recording and analysing speech
  • 4.4  Signals and sine waves
  • 4.5  Making signals from combinations of sine waves
  • The square wave challenge
  • 4.6  From the time domain to the frequency domain
  • 4.7  Signals and noise
  • 4.8  Filtering
  • 4.9  Amplifying signals
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements

Tags

Reviews

4.5 rating, based on 4 Class Central reviews

4.4 rating at OpenLearn based on 37 ratings

Start your review of An introduction to electronics

  • Profile image for Radha Bhaskar
    Radha Bhaskar
    The Introduction to Electronics course was successful in building a strong foundation for engineering students. With minor enhancements such as extended lab practice and modern applications, it can become even more impactful in preparing students for advanced courses and industry needs.
  • Profile image for Pavankalyan
    Pavankalyan
    "An Introduction to Electronics" by The Open University is an excellent starting point for anyone new to electronics. The course is well-structured, with clear explanations of fundamental concepts such as voltage, current, and resistance. It introduces key components like resistors, capacitors, and transistors in a way that’s easy to understand, even for non-technical learners. The interactive content and diagrams help visualize how circuits work. Overall, it’s a great free resource that builds a strong foundation in electronics.
  • Profile image for Pushan Bhattacharya
    Pushan Bhattacharya
    It was highly interactive course. As a student who just completed his 1st year B.Tech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, this course was a breath of fresh air, as it followed a different path of teaching, swaying from the traditional way of how courses are made. i found the audio interactive sessions really interesting, as it was highly interactive, and made the course more interesting. Apart from this, gaining more knowledge on amplifiers and other circuits was really great too. an overall great course, and highly recommended.
  • Profile image for Chinmay Pawar
    Chinmay Pawar
    This course helps me alot to enhance my skills in electronics.It is a very good course available on openlearn.This course contains all the basic concepts like Ohm's law and kirchoff's law
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