What is a Circuit?

Contributors: MikeGrusin

Resources and Going Further

You've just learned, in its most basic form, what a circuit is. As you keep learning, you'll encounter more complex circuits that have multiple loops and many more electronic components. But ALL circuits, no matter how complex, will follow the same rules as the basic one-loop circuit you just learned about.

Interested in learning more foundational topics?

See our Engineering Essentials page for a full list of cornerstone topics surrounding electrical engineering.

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Your journey into electronics is just beginning, here are some suggested next topics to explore:

• Breadboards are useful tools that let you quickly build temporary circuits using jumper wires. We use them all the time. You also may want to master working with wire to help you build your circuits.
• A multimeter lets you measure voltage, current, and resistance and is a great help when trying to troubleshoot malfunctioning circuits.
• Circuits come in all different sizes, shapes, and configurations. Check out the series vs parallel circuits tutorial to see circuits taken to the next level.

Here are some tutorials on the most common components you'll use when building circuits.

• A great way to learn about circuits is to start making some. Our LED tutorial will show how to light up one or many LEDs.
• Resistors are one of the most widely used components in circuits.
• Capacitors are also found in most circuits. As are Diodes.