circuit diagram

A graphical depiction of an electrical circuit that uses lines to represent wires, a handful of symbols to prepresent different components and plain rectangles to represent more complex devices.

Circuit Cell & Lamp


Above are two representations of the same circuit, the first in a more pictorial version, and the second as a circuit diagram. Notice that the circuit diagram is much easier to generate and only retains the essential details of the circuit. The following symbols are used in the diagram. Lines are simply wires of some kind.

cell	lamp

Other symbols commonly used are set out below.

button	switch	resistor
potentiometer	led	photocell
capacitor	diode	mosfet