What is Electronics

Ralph Morrison●May 3, 2018●6 comments

INTRODUCTION
One answer to the question posed by the title might be:
"The understanding that allows a designer to interconnect
electrical components to perform electrical tasks." These
tasks can involve measurement, amplification, moving and
storing digital data, dissipating energy, operating motors,
etc. Circuit theory uses the sinusoidal relations
between components, voltages, current and time to
describe how a circuit functions. The parameters we can
measure directly are voltage and time. This means that
electronics is the art of manipulating voltages to perform
various electrical tasks. I want to present a different
definition. That is the subject of this article.
In digital electronics, a voltage difference can represent
data, or be a measure of the energy used to operate an
active component. All conductor geometries have
capacitance. A voltage difference associated with a
capacitance means there is stored energy. To change the
voltages on a circuit means that energy must be moved or
dissipated. These are the fundamental processes we must
consider if we are going to handle fast data. Circuit theory
is not based on moving energy yet that is nature's only
objective. Playing nature's game rather than fighting her
makes for designs that perform well. We often do not
realize what nature does. Fortunately, she is very
consistent and we can eventually figure out what she does
over and over.

STORING OR MOVING ENERGY.

There is a common misconception that signals are carried
in conductors. Somehow this association crosses over to
the idea that conductors carry both signals and energy. A
few simple calculations can show that this is a false idea.
Consider a 50-ohm transmission line carrying a 5-volt logic
signal. The initial current at switch closure is 500 mA. A
typical trace is a a gram-mole of copper that has 6 x
1023 copper atoms (Avogadro's number). Each atom can
contribute one electron to current flow. Knowing the
charge on an electron makes it easy to show that the
average electron velocity for 500 mA is a few centimeters
per second. What is even more interesting is that only a
trillion electrons are involved in this current flow. This
means that only one electron in a trillion carries the
current. This also says that the magnetic field that moves
energy is not located in the conductors. The only
explanation that makes sense is that energy in the
magnetic field must be located in the space between two
conductors.Conductors end up directing energy flow - not
carrying the energy.
The electric field in the conductor that causes current flow
presents a similar picture. For a transmission line trace 5
mils above a ground plane, the electric field strength in the
space under the trace is about 49,000 V/m. The electric
field inside the conductor might be 0.1 V per meter.
Energy in an electric field is proportional to field strength
squared. The ratio of the square of field strengths in and
near a conductor is about 2.4 x 1011. It is safe to say that
there is very little electric or magnetic field energy in a
trace or conducting plane. Since the energy is present and
it is not in the conductors it must be in the space between
the conductors. This is true for sine waves or square
waves at all frequencies including dc. This one idea is not
often discussed in circuit theory. This one idea solves
most interference problems. This one idea is at the heart
of a good circuit board layout. If the energy that represents
information is carried in spaces it makes sense that we
must keep these spaces free from interfering fields. The
path should also control the characteristic impedance so
there are controlled reflections. What we really need to do
is supply a smooth path for logic energy flow.

FIELD THEORY
In 1858 Maxwell presented his famous field equations to
the world. It is hard to believe that he did this when there
were no components or even wires as we know them
today. There were no circuits and no circuit theory. There
were no oscilloscopes. Maxwell’s Equations are
considered to be one of the greatest achievements in
science. These equations do not include voltage or
impedance; only electric and magnetic field intensities. We
have difficulty using these field equations even in a world
of advanced computing power. Engineers are very
creative and they have found ways to go around most of
the mathematics. The methods that have evolved are
called circuit theory. When new problems occur engineers
often invent a new explanation rather than use the
fundamentals of physics. The idea that spaces need to be
designed is simply not accepted by the engineering
community. Trace spacing that controls characteristic
impedance is understood but via placement is not
recognized as an issue. The role of decoupling capacitors
is also not fully appreciated.
The way energy moves in a transmission line is usually
not fully explained. I will give you a simple example.
Consider that a step voltage is applied to a transmission
line. The leading edge converts half of the arriving energy
to static energy. Behind the leading edge there is both
energy stored in the line capacitance and energy in
motion. A voltage measurement cannot separate energy
storage from energy motion. There is a further
philosophical problem. The fields are stationary behind the
wave front. We cannot detect any motion yet half the
electric and magnetic fields are moving energy at the
speed of light. The fact that a steady pair of fields when
coupled together and coupled to conductors moves
energy is also not easy to accept.
After a reflection at an open circuit, energy continues to
move forward in the line from the source. Energy
is not reflected or dissipated at an open circuit. The
leading edge of the reflected wave converts the arriving
energy into electric field thus doubling the voltage. The
reflected wave moves in a direction opposite to energy
flow. Assuming no losses, the wave action we have
describe is a part of an oscillation. When the return wave
reaches the source no more energy is taken from the
energy source and we have an oscillator. It takes two
round trips of a leading edge to complete one cycle. At
one point in the cycle all the stored energy is electric and
in another part of the cycle the stored energy is all
magnetic. This has to be because if there is capacitance
and inductance in parallel, this is the familiar LC tank
circuit.

FAST CIRCUIT BOARDS AND ENERGY

MANAGEMENT
Electronics is in a constant state of flux. Today, energy is
moved in fast logic structures and often intentionally
radiated to receiving devices. The trend is for more data
and faster operations. As you can tell from my writing, I
think that there can be many improvements in what we call
electronics. If you wish to read more about the problems of
designing modern circuit boards, read my latest book. The
name of the book is the title to this section. It is published
by John Wiley and Sons.
My definition of electronics is: The smooth flow of
electromagnetic field energy in conducting structures to
perform specific electrical tasks. This energy should not
leave the circuit except at planned points.Note that a
component is a conducting structure.

Comment by jms_nh●May 25, 2018

1
The electric field inside the conductor might be 0.1
V per meter.
Hmm. This caught my eye, since the electric field
inside a perfect conductor is supposed to be zero....

This is copper, which has a conductivity sigma

= around 6 × 107 S/m, and
with J=σE=6×107S/m⋅0.1V/m=6×106A/m2J=σE=6×107S/m⋅0.1V/m=6×1
06A/m2. A 10mil trace of 1 oz copper is 0.254mm
× 34.79 μm = 8.8 × 10-9 m2, multiplied by current
density J is 0.05A.

5V / 50 ohm = 0.1A.

Yeah, not far off. Sorry I doubted you. :-)

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Comment by lmitcham●May 10, 2018

0
I'm no spring chicken, but, this is a new paradigm to
me and I am inspired to investigate further. I look
forward to reading your publications.

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Comment by simonbagley●May 10, 2018

0
This is a very interesting way of looking at the
principles of electronic circuits.

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Comment by AllenMoore●May 10, 2018

0
A very different viewpoint than what I received as an
EE student many years ago. I was well-trained in
circuit theory and the fundamentals of
electromagnetics, but left most of even that behind--
to my detriment--as I plunged into the nascent field
of digital electronics. I would be interested in more
articles by this author.

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Comment by s-light●May 15, 2018

0
Hello Ralph Morriso,
thanks for your writeup. it sounds interesting!
for me its a little hard to understand all- i think
that has to do with to points:
- i have absolute only the very basic theoretical
education about electronics / circuits and so on
(like 'this is an resistor'. and 'this is an
capacitor' - that is all - all other things are self
thought - and so mostly practical and not
theoretically ;-) )
- and english is not my mother language - so
sometimes its hard to understand the meaning behind
the words ;-)

for this i think some simple graphics that

complement the text would be helpful :-)
i will re read your post in some days- and hopefully
on the second reading things get clearer ;-)

sunny greetings

stefan

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Comment by fermed●May 22, 2018

0
As an unexperienced engineer, I totally agree that an
understanding of this concept of what electronics is,
can be critical to designing electronic products that
are mass manufactured, must be long term reliable and
must be developed as fast as possible.
I have found myself in very uncomfortable positions
in which my understanding and preparation in
electronics was not enough to solve electromagnetic
issues, and had to deep dive in books and rely in
almost "magical" solutions. However the understand of
how energy is transmitted and where it resides opens
the real world of how the PCB and circuits mounted on
it are interacting with each other.

Thanks for such a nice article, definitely looking at

your books.