Electrical Symbols & Electronic Symbols

SYMBOL

COMPONENT

MEANING

WIRES
Represents a conductor that conducts
Wires

electrical current. Also called a power line or

electric line or wire.
Represents the connection of two conductors.

Connected Wires
Dot shows the junction point.

Represents two unconnected

wires/conductors. Any of the two methods can
Unconnected
be followed. Drawing two lines perpendicularly
Wires
is an older method of representing
unconnected wires.

Input Bus Line

Represents a bus for input or incoming data.

Output Bus Line

Represents a bus for output or outgoing data.

Terminal

Represents start or end point.

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Represents a number of conductors joined

Bus Line
together to form a bus wire.
SWITCHES
Push Button

This switch is in ON state when the button is

(Normally Open)

pressed otherwise it is in OFF state.

Push Button

This switch is initially in ON state. This goes to

(Normally Closed) OFF state when it is released.

Single pole single throw is abbreviated as
SPST. This allows the flow of current when the
switch is closed. This acts as ON/OFF switch.
Spst Switch
Poles define the number of circuits it can be
connected to and throws defines the number
of positions that a pole connects.
Single pole double throw is abbreviated as
SPDT. This switch allows the current to flow in
Spdt Switch
any one of the two directions by adjusting its
position.
Double pole single throw is abbreviated as
Dpst Switch

DPST. This switch can drive two circuits at a

time.

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Double pole double throw is the full form of
DPDT. This can be defined as two

Dpdt Switch
independent SPDT switches. This can connect
the four circuits by changing the position.
This switch is operated by rotation. This has 3
3 Position Rotary
positions. Often used in fan control, citizen
or Multi Switch
band radio and tuning.
5 Position Rotary This switch is operated by rotation. This has 5
or Multi Switch

positions.
This represents the relay switch. This can

Relay Switch

control the AC Loads using the DC voltage

applied to the coil.

SOURCES

AC Supply

This represents AC supply in the circuit.

This represents the DC power supply. It

DC Supply
applies DC supply to the circuit.

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COMPONENT

MEANING
Current source is used to deliver or absorb

Constant Current electric current. The symbol represents an

Source

independent current source which delivers

constant current.

Controlled current It is a dependent current source. Usually

Source

depends on other sources (voltage or current).

Controlled Voltage It is a dependent voltage source. Usually

Source

depends on other sources (voltage or current).

Single Cell Battery This provides supply to the circuit.

Combination of multiple single cell batteries or

Multi Cell Battery a single large cell battery. The voltage is
usually higher.
Wave Generators
Sinusoidal
Represents sine wave generator.
Generator

Pulse Generator

Represents pulse or square wave generator.

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COMPONENT

MEANING

Triangular Wave

Represents triangular wave generator.

GROUND SYMBOLS
It is equivalent to theoretical 0V and is used as
Ground

zero potential reference. It is the potential of

perfectly conducting earth.
It is a reference point from which the signal is
measured. There may be several signal

Signal Ground
grounds in a circuit due to the voltage drops in
a circuit.
Connected to the chassis of the circuit. It is the
frame or box in which the circuit is built. It acts
Chassis Ground
as a barrier between user and the circuit and
prevents electric shock.
RESISTOR SYMBOLS
It is a device that opposes the flow of current
Fixed Resistor

in a circuit. These two symbols are used to

represent fixed resistor.

VARIABLE RESISTOR

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COMPONENT

MEANING
It is a three terminal variable resistor which
acts as an adjustable voltage divider. It is used

Potentiometer
in power supplies that produce varying DC
voltages like volume controls or joysticks.
It is a two terminal variable resistor. They are
generally used to control the current in the
Rheostat

circuit. Generally used in tuning circuits and

power control applications like heaters, ovens
etc
It is a mini variable resistor. It is also called
Trimmer Resistor or Trim Pot. The resistance
is adjusted with rotary control present on top

Preset
of it with the help of a screw driver. They are
used to adjust the sensitivity of the circuit like
temperature or light.
It is a temperature sensitive resistor. They are
Thermistor

used in temperature sensing, current limiting

circuits, over-current protection circuits etc.

Varistor

It is a Voltage Dependent Resistor. It has nonlinear current-voltage characteristics.

Generally used in circuit protection from

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COMPONENT

MEANING
voltage surges and excessive transient
voltages.
They are also called as Magnetic Dependent
Resistors (MDR). The resistance of magneto
resistor varies according to the external

Magneto Resistor
magnetic field strength. They are used in
electronic compass, ferrous material detection,
position sensors etc.
They are also called as Photo Resistors. The
resistance of LDR varies with the intensity of
LDR
the light incident on it. They are generally used
in light sensing applications.
A wire-wound type fixed resistor with one or
Tapped resistor

more terminals along its length. Generally

used in voltage divider applications.
It is a device used to lower the power of a
signal. They are made from simple voltage

Attenuator
dividers and hence can be classified in the
family of the resistors.

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Memristor is a device derived from the word
memory resistor. The resistance of memristor
is varied according to the direction of flow of

Memristor
charge. Memristors can be used in signal
processing, logic/computation, non-volatile
memory etc.
CAPACITOR SYMBOLS
Capacitor stores the charge in the form of
electrical energy. These two symbols are used
Non Polarized

for non-polarized capacitor. Non-polarized

Capacitor

capacitors are big in size with small

capacitance. They can be used in both AC and
DC circuits.
Polarized capacitors are small in size but have

Polarized

high capacitance. They are used in DC

Capacitor

circuits. They can be used as filters, for

bypassing or passing low frequency signals.

Electrolytic

Almost all electrolytic capacitors are polarized

Capacitor

and hence used in DC circuits

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COMPONENT

MEANING

Feed through

They provide low impedance path to ground

Capacitor

for high frequency signals

The capacitance of the variable capacitor can

be adjusted by turning the knob. They are
Variable Capacitor
widely used to adjust the frequency , that is for
tuning.
INDUCTORS
Inductor stores the charge in the form of
magnetic field. This contains a conductor
wound in the form of a coil. The current
flowing in the coil induces voltage by
Inductor
phenomena of faradays law of
electromagnetic induction. Here the coil is
wound on non-magnetic forms like plastic or
ceramic.
These are used as substitutes to ferrite core
inductors. Ferrite core or Ferromagnetic
Iron Core Inductor inductors have high permeability and require
air gap to reduce it. Iron powdered core
inductors have this air gap integrated.

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COMPONENT

MEANING
Core material, in this type of inductors is made

Ferrite Core

of ferrite material. These are mostly used to

Inductors

suppress the interference of electromagnetic

waves.

Center Tapped
These are used in coupling of signals,
Inductors
Movable ferrite magnetic core variable
inductors are most common. The inductance
Variable Inductors
is varied by sliding the core in or out of the
coil.
DIODES
A PN junction diode allows the current to flow
only in forward bias condition. These diodes
Pn Junction Diode
can be used in clipping and clamping circuits ,
as rectifiers in dc circuits etc.
Zener Diode

In forward bias condition, it acts as normal

diode and allows current. It also allows current
to flow in reverse bias condition when the
voltage reaches a certain break-down point.
Generally used in voltage regulator and over

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voltage protection circuits.
Photodiode detects the light energy and
converts it into current or voltage by a

Photodiode
mechanism called photoelectric effect. These
are used in CD players , Cameras etc.
Light emitting diode is similar to PN junction
diode but they emit energy in the form of light
Led
instead of heat. These are mostly used in
indication , lightening applications.
Varactor diode is called varicap or variable
capacitance diode. The capacitance of this
Varactor Diode

diode varies according to the applied input

voltage. This is used in frequency controlled
oscillators , frequency multipliers etc.
The symbol represents Schottky diode. It has
low forward voltage drop and it can switch

Schottky Diode
rapidly. Used in voltage clamping, rectifiers,
reverse current and discharge protection
Shockley Diode

This is a four layer diode. This had fast

switching operation and hence is used in

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COMPONENT

MEANING
switching applications.
This is also known as Esaki diode.It can
switch very fastly and can perform well in

Tunnel Diode
micro wave frequency range. This is used in
oscillator circuits and micro wave circuits.
It consists of four layers of alternating P and N
materials. They act as bistable switches and
Thyristor
are used in circuits where high voltages and
currents are involved.
Also called as Current Limiting Diode or
Constant Current
Current Regulating Diode. It limits the current
Diode
to a specified maximum value.
The laser diode is similar to light emitting
diode. The active region is formed in intrinsic
Laser Diode

region in PIN structure. Laser diodes find its

applications in laser printing, laser scanning
etc.

TRANSISTOR SYMBOLS

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It is made of combination of P-type
semiconductor between two N-type
semiconductors. It is switched ON when the

NPN
base-emitter junction is forward biased. They
are commonly used for amplifying and
switching applications.
It is made of combination of N-type
semiconductor between two P-type
semiconductors. It is switched ON when the
PNP
base-emitter junction is reverse biased. These
are used for amplifying and switching
applications.
Junction field effect transistor is a unipolar
device and is voltage controlled device. The
JFET

gate junction is reverse biased for its

operation.It is used as buffer amplifier, analog
switch, oscillators etc.
N-channel JFET is made by n-type silicon bars

N- Channel JFET which form two PN junctions at the side.

Majority charge carriers here are electrons.

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COMPONENT

MEANING
P-Channel JFET is made by p-type silicon bar

P-Channel JFET

which forms two PN junctions at the side.

Majority charge carriers here are holes.
MOSFET is similar to JFET but it is operated
in enhancement mode also that is, it increases
the width of depletion layer. This can be

MOSFET
operated in both enhancement and depletion
mode. They are used in SMPS, amplifiers ,
oscillators etc.
The enhancement mode MOSFET has
positive gate operation. It induces negative
Enhancement
charges into the n-channel and thus number of
MOSFET
negative charges increases, enhancing the
channel conductivity.
The depletion mode has negative gate
Depletion
operation. This decreases the width of the
MOSFET
depletion layer.
Phototransistor

The photo transistor converts the light energy

falling on it to its corresponding electrical
energy. This can be used in light sensing
applications.Base is left disconnected as light

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is used to enable the flow of current.
Photo Darlington Transistor is similar to

Photo Darlington

phototransistor with very high gain and

sensitivity
This is a configuration of pair of transistors,

Darlington

which produces high current gain. They are

Transistor

used in power regulators, output stages of

audio amplifiers, display drivers etc.

LOGIC GATES
This is the basic gate and it implements logical
conjunction. The output of the AND gate is
And Gate
high, only if both the inputs are high otherwise
both are low.
The OR gate implements logical
Or Gate

disjunction.The output is high if any one of the

inputs is high.

Nand Gate

It is complement of AND gate. The output is

low only when both the inputs are high,
otherwise it is high. Any Boolean function can
be implemented using combination of NAND

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gates
NOR gate is a not OR gate. Output of this gate

Nor Gate

is high, if both the inputs are Low, otherwise it

is High.
Inverter or NOT gate implements logical

Not Gate
negation. This gate inverts the input.
This gate implements exclusive OR logic. The
Exor

output of this gate is high ,if both the inputs

are different.
This gate implements negation of EXOR logic.

Exnor

The output of this gate is high , only if the two

inputs are identical.
It is an audio signaling device. Generally used

Buffer

in alarms, timers and for confirmation

messages.
Similar to a normal buffer but with a control
signal. In case of active high buffer, it operates

Tri-State Buffer

normally only when control signal is 1. In case

of active low buffer, it operates normally only
when control signal is 0.

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COMPONENT

MEANING
Flip flop is the also a memory element but this

Flip Flop

is a synchronous device. The figure below

shows the basic D-flip-flop.

AMPLIFIERS
An amplifier is a device that amplifies a
relatively small input signal i.e. it increases the
Basic Amplifier
power of the signal. They are used in
communication systems, audio devices etc
Operational Amplifier (Op Amp) is a voltage
amplifier with very high gain. The input is
Operational
differential. They are used in instrumentation
Amplifier
devices, signal processing, control systems
etc
ANTENNA
This symbol belongs to Aerial or Antenna. It
converts electrical power into radio waves. It is
Antenna
used in wireless communication to transmit or
receive the signals.

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COMPONENT

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Loop antenna is named after its loop like
shape of wire or other electrical conductor.

Loop Antenna
They are used as receiving antennas in low
frequency range.
It is most widely used antenna. They consist of
two bilaterally symmetrical conductive
Dipole Antenna
elements. Generally used in set-top TV,
shortwave transmission and FM receivers.
TRANSFORMER
Transformer is the basic element that transfers
energy in one circuit to the other circuit
through electromagnetic induction. They are
Transformer
generally used in electric power applications to
increase or decrease the voltage of AC
current.
Uses a piece of magnetic material as core.
Generally Ferro magnetic metals like iron are
Iron Core
used. The core has high permeability and is
used to confine the magnetic field.

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COMPONENT

MEANING
The center tapped transformer is similar to a
normal transformer except that it has its
secondary winding divided into two parts with

Center Tapped
same number of turns in each part. This
results in two individual output voltages across
two line ends. Used in rectifier circuits.
The no. of turns in secondary winding is more
Step Up

than that of primary winding. The output

Transformer

voltage is higher than input voltage.

Significantly used in inverters.
The no. of turns in secondary winding is less

Step Down

than that of primary winding. The output

Transformer

voltage is lesser than input voltage. It is widely

used in low power applications.

MISCELLANEOUS

This is sound producing device. This produces

Buzzer
buzz sound when the voltage is applied.

This is also an audio device. The electrical

Loud Speaker
signal is converted into sound signal here.

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The symbol represents the light bulb. The bulb

Light Bulb
glows when required voltage is applied.
This converts the electric energy to
Motor
mechanical energy.

Symbol represents the fuse that protects the

Fuse
circuit from over current.

Microphone

It converts sound signals to electrical signals.

Used to generate clock signal of very precise

Crystal Oscillator
frequency.

Analog to Digital converter is used convert

ADC

analog signals (usually voltage) to digital

values.
Digital to Analog converter is used to convert

DAC
digital code to analog signals.

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Thermocouple

It is used to measure temperature.