CONNECTING A LED
A LED must be connected around the correct way in a circuit and it must have a resistor to limit the current.
The LED in the first diagram does not illuminate because a red LED requires 1.7v and the cell only supplies 1.5v. The LED in the second diagram is damaged because it requires 1.7v and the two cells supply 3v. A resistor is needed to limit the current to about 25mA and also the voltage to 1.7v, as shown in the third diagram. The fourth diagram is the circuit for layout #3 showing the symbol for the LED, resistor and battery and how the three are connected. The LED in the fifth diagram does not work because it is around the wrong way.
CHARACTERISTIC VOLTAGE DROP
When a LED is connected around the correct way in a circuit it develops a voltage across it called the CHARACTERISTIC VOLTAGE DROP.
A LED must be supplied with a voltage that is higher than its "CHARACTERISTIC VOLTAGE" via a resistor - called a VOLTAGE DROPPING RESISTOR or CURRENT LIMITING RESISTOR - so the LED will operate correctly and provide at least 10,000 to 50,000 hours of illumination.
A LED works like this: A LED and resistor are placed in series and connected to a voltage.
As the voltage rises from 0v, nothing happens until the voltage reaches about 1.7v. At this voltage a red LED just starts to glow. As the voltage increases, the voltage across the LED remains at 1.7v but the current through the LED increases and it gets brighter.
We now turn our attention to the current though the LED. As the current increases to 5mA, 10mA, 15mA, 20mA the brightness will increase and at 25mA, it will be a maximum. Increasing the supply voltage will simply change the colour of the LED slightly but the crystal inside the LED will start to overheat and this will reduce the life considerably.
This is just a simple example as each LED has a different CHARACTERISTIC VOLTAGE DROP and a different maximum current.
In the diagram below we see a LED on a 3v supply, 9v supply and 12v supply. The current-limiting resistors are different and the first circuit takes 6mA, the second takes 15mA and the third takes 31mA. But the voltage across the red LED is the same in all cases. This is because the LED creates the CHARACTERISTIC VOLTAGE DROP and this does not change.
It does not matter if the resistor is connected above or below the LED. The circuits are the SAME in operation:
HEAD VOLTAGE
Now we turn our attention to the resistor.
As the supply-voltage increases, the voltage across the LED will be constant at 1.7v (for a red LED) and the excess voltage will be dropped across the resistor. The supply can be any voltage from 2v to 12v or more.
In this case, the resistor will drop 0.3v to 10.3v.
This is called HEAD VOLTAGE - or HEAD-ROOM or OVERHEAD-VOLTAGE.
The following diagram shows HEAD VOLTAGE:
A LED must be connected around the correct way in a circuit and it must have a resistor to limit the current.
The LED in the first diagram does not illuminate because a red LED requires 1.7v and the cell only supplies 1.5v. The LED in the second diagram is damaged because it requires 1.7v and the two cells supply 3v. A resistor is needed to limit the current to about 25mA and also the voltage to 1.7v, as shown in the third diagram. The fourth diagram is the circuit for layout #3 showing the symbol for the LED, resistor and battery and how the three are connected. The LED in the fifth diagram does not work because it is around the wrong way.
When a LED is connected around the correct way in a circuit it develops a voltage across it called the CHARACTERISTIC VOLTAGE DROP.
A LED must be supplied with a voltage that is higher than its "CHARACTERISTIC VOLTAGE" via a resistor - called a VOLTAGE DROPPING RESISTOR or CURRENT LIMITING RESISTOR - so the LED will operate correctly and provide at least 10,000 to 50,000 hours of illumination.
A LED works like this: A LED and resistor are placed in series and connected to a voltage.
As the voltage rises from 0v, nothing happens until the voltage reaches about 1.7v. At this voltage a red LED just starts to glow. As the voltage increases, the voltage across the LED remains at 1.7v but the current through the LED increases and it gets brighter.
We now turn our attention to the current though the LED. As the current increases to 5mA, 10mA, 15mA, 20mA the brightness will increase and at 25mA, it will be a maximum. Increasing the supply voltage will simply change the colour of the LED slightly but the crystal inside the LED will start to overheat and this will reduce the life considerably.
This is just a simple example as each LED has a different CHARACTERISTIC VOLTAGE DROP and a different maximum current.
In the diagram below we see a LED on a 3v supply, 9v supply and 12v supply. The current-limiting resistors are different and the first circuit takes 6mA, the second takes 15mA and the third takes 31mA. But the voltage across the red LED is the same in all cases. This is because the LED creates the CHARACTERISTIC VOLTAGE DROP and this does not change.
Now we turn our attention to the resistor.
As the supply-voltage increases, the voltage across the LED will be constant at 1.7v (for a red LED) and the excess voltage will be dropped across the resistor. The supply can be any voltage from 2v to 12v or more.
In this case, the resistor will drop 0.3v to 10.3v.
This is called HEAD VOLTAGE - or HEAD-ROOM or OVERHEAD-VOLTAGE.
The following diagram shows HEAD VOLTAGE:
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