Active and Passive components

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE COMPONENTS

An electrical circuit is an interconnection of Electronic Components. Based on their capability to generate energy these elements are classified into active or passive electronic Components.

The most significant difference between active components and passive components is that an active component can supply power to an electric circuit, whereas a passive component cannot deliver power, it can only absorb the power in the circuit.

Passive Components:

Passive components are electronic devices that don’t need an external power source to operate actively.
They mainly resist or store electric current or voltage in a circuit without actively amplifying or generating signals.
Passive components do not have capacity to amplify the voltage or to rectify the supply.

• Resistors:
  Resistors control the flow of current by offering resistance. They are used to limit current, divide voltage, and set biasing conditions in electronic circuits.
  Resistors are again classified into fixed type and variable type components.
  A variable resistor, is an electrical component whose resistance can be changed manually, whereas a fixed resistor has a set resistance value that cannot be changed.  Unit of resistance is ohm(Ω)  .
• Capacitors:
  Capacitor is one of the basic components of the electric circuit, which can store electric charge in the form of electric potential energy.
  It consists of two conducting surfaces such as a plate or sphere, and some dielectric substance(air, glass, plastic, etc.) between them.
  A capacitor is an electronic component that stores and releases electrical energy.
  Unit of capacitor is Farad (F).
• Inductor:
  An inductor is a passive electrical component that stores energy in a magnetic field when an electric current passes through it.
  Inductors are also known as coils, chokes, or reactors.
  Unit of inductor is Henry(H)

Active components:

Active components are electronic devices that need an external power source to work.
They actively control and manipulate the flow of electric current in a circuit.
These components can amplify, switch, or generate electrical signals.
These components are capable of performing active functions like amplification, rectification and switching; they are called active components.

1)Diodes
Diodes allow current to flow in one direction while blocking it in the opposite direction. They are used for rectification, signal modulation, and switching applications.

2) Transistors
Transistor is an electronic component that amplifies electrical signals.
They are commonly used in amplifiers, digital logic circuits, and voltage regulators.
Transistors function as a switch and as an amplifier in most electronic circuits.