LED LESSON #1

In this quick lesson we will go over a very simple hook up in order to make an LED of your choice shed some light. In order to do this we will need to gather a few key elements in order to get this project off the ground. Leds can be used for anything and everything, they are perfect to add accents and lighting to your home, car or anywhere else. Nowadays people have shifted focus on using led strip lighting which offers easy installation as well as being easy to control. By following this walkthrough you should be able to understand the setup as well as the concept, so get ready and keep reading. 

STEP 1: Gather your gear

For this project you will need:

- L.E.D  ( Light emitting diode )

- 220 ohm resistor

- Breadboard

- jumper wires

Light Emitting Diode (L.E.D)

                                   LED

When placing the led onto the breadboard you need to know the orientation of the led itself. Take a look at the led description and get familiar with the different functions. The led in this case has two legs. The longer leg is called an "Anode" this leg is defined as positive (+). This is generally connected to the positive power supply. The shorter leg called an "Cathode" is defined as being the negative pin, which is connected to the ground through a resistor which we will discuss next.

Resistor

Resistors can be used in many different ways, they are mainly responsible for protecting components from being damaged such as in leds. They are the dams of electricity, different resistors can allow different flows to pass through. Resistors can split voltage between parts of a circuit as well as  control delays. Most resistors nowadays are carbon. Resistors have values assigned which are rated by the colours on them. The colours used are : black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue,purple, gray, and white. The colours represent a different number. Black = 0 Brown= 1 all the way to White = 9.   Remember these numbers you will need to learn which applies to which.



STEP 2: Connections

First things first connect your power supply. I chose as always my own created "PSU"  Connect 5v to positive rail on the breadboard (red +) and ground will be connected to the blue breadboard rail (ground). Next insert the led (colour of your choice) into the breadboard as shown in the picture. For more information on how to use a breadboard you can check out my walk through which you will find in my project listings. Place "Anode" in one opening and "Cathode" in its own hole.







Now that the led and the power supply are connected we now move onto connecting the resistor. To do this we need to place the resistor with one end connected to the same rail as the cathode of the led. The other end of the resistor is in its own hole as well. Now place your jumper wires.

Connect the resistor with your jumper wire. One end of the jumper wire will be connected to the cathode end with the other end connected to the ground rail of the breadboard. Now we need power.

To do this we connect another jumper. This wire is connected to the anode of the led. This wire now gets connected to the red rail which will provide the 5v power needed to run the led.

Beautiful eh, if everything went smoothly then you should be sitting back relaxing and enjoying your progress. Some common issues if you cannot make light would be:

-LED is installed backwards

-improper power supply

-dead led