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You are here: Home / Basic Electronics / Electronic Schematic Symbols

Electronic Schematic Symbols

October 8, 2020 By Øyvind Nydal Dahl 35 Comments

To be able to read schematics you must know the schematic symbols. But you don’t need to memorize them all. To start with, it’s usually enough to know the battery, resistor, capacitor, transistor, diode, LED, and switch.

Later when you come across symbols you don’t know, you can come back here to identify what it is.

Below is an overview of the most used symbols in circuit diagrams.

Battery

The symbol for a battery is shown below.

A large and a small line is suppose to represent one battery cell so that the image below would suggest a two-cell battery of 3 V. But usually people just draw the battery symbol with one or two cells no matter what voltage it is.

Battery symbol

Capacitor

Capacitors are either polarized or not. The symbols that are commonly used for the two are shown below.

A polarized capacitor is marked with a “+” sign. It is important to distinguish between these two because the polarized capacitor needs to be placed correctly according to the “+” sign.

Schematic symbols for polarized and non-polarized capacitors
Schematic symbols for polarized and non-polarized capacitors

Resistor

The schematic symbol of the resistor are drawn in two different ways. The american style resistor is drawn as a zigzag resistor while the european style resistor is drawn as a rectangular resistor.

Even though I’m from Europe, I like to draw the zigzag version. I think it is easier to draw and looks better.

American style resistor symbol
American style resistor
European style resistor symbol
European style resistor

Potentiometer

The potentiometer is drawn in several different ways. The symbol is usually drawn as a resistor with an arrow across it or pointing down on it as the one below.

Potentiometer symbol

Diode

The diode family has several different symbols because there are several different types of diodes. Below is a standard diode, a Zener diode, a Schottky diode, and a Light-Emitting Diode (LED).

Different diode symbols

Schematic Symbols of a Transistor

The most common transistor types are the Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT), Darlington Transistor, and the Field Effect Transistor (FET). The schematic symbols for these types are shown below:

Transistor symbols for BJT, MOSFET, Darlington, and JFET
Transistor symbols

Integrated Circuit

An Integrated Circuit (IC) is usually shown as a rectangular box with pins. Below, an example of the CMOS IC 4017 is shown.

Schematic symbol for a 4017 IC
Schematic symbol for a 4017 IC

Logic Gates

Here are the schematic symbols for the logic gates:

Schematic symbols for the logic gates
Logic Gates

Inductor

The inductor symbol looks like a coiled wire as this is what an inductor essentially is.

Inductor symbol

Transformer

The symbol of the transformer looks like two inductors with something in between them. Thats’s because that’s basically what a transformer is.

The transformer symbol
The transformer symbol

Switch

A switch can be represented in numerous ways in a circuit diagram. Below is a few examples:

Three examples of switch symbols
Three different switch symbols

Operational Amplifier

The operational amplifier or “opamp” is represented as a triangle with two inputs and one output. In some cases, the power supply pins are removed, but you still need to connect them for it to work.

Opamp symbol

Power symbols

In larger circuit diagrams, you usually have a lot of connections to the power supply. To simplify, it’s common to use power symbols for ground and VDD (or VCC) as shown below.

Power symbols, ground and VDD
Power symbols for Ground and VDD

In circuits where you have a dual supply, that is positive, neutral, and negative – you usually have a third power symbol that looks like the VDD symbol, just upside down.

Photoresistor

The symbol for a photoresistor – or Light-Dependent Resistor (LDR) – looks like a resistor in a circle with arrows pointing inwards.

Symbol for a photoresistor or LDR

Crystal

The crystal is a component used to create a stable clock frequency, often for microcontrollers. In circuit diagrams it looks like this:

Schematic symbol for a crystal

Fuse

Fuses are often used in higher-voltage circuits. The fuse symbol looks like this:

Fuse symbol

Return from Schematic Symbols to Electronic Schematics

Filed Under: Basic Electronics

Reader Interactions

Comments


  1. Fredo says

    June 20, 2014

    It would be nice to also include the european version of the logic gates.

    Also I prefer the european version of the resistor since a sloppy drawn zigzag might also be a coil.

    Reply

    • admin says

      December 1, 2016

      Good point. I’ve always found the european version of the resistor a bit boring. But I see your point about a sloppy drawn zigzag-resistor.

      Oyvind

      Reply

      • Hank says

        September 22, 2017

        Yes that is a good point. I’m always critical of fine points like that, that a lot of people don’t think of.
        But I’m an OLD guy now (been around for a long time), and I’ve used the zigzag resister symbol all my life. My response then is if it’s sloppy and can look like a coil (which is true), just don’t be sloppy!
        Another thing: The European style symbol can look like an object on a computer flowchart, many of which I have also made. So I’m not crazy about it’s boxy look because I’m used to that being on flowcharts.

        Reply

      • Derrell says

        September 18, 2020

        I don’t know what a logic gate is. Could you help me?

        Reply

        • admin says

          September 21, 2020

          Yes, check out this article:
          https://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/logic-gates/

          Reply

  2. kingsleydara says

    August 4, 2014

    im a beginner in electronics, pls i nid hlp in reading intergrated circuits, its uses ,nd major function of a electrolyte capacitor

    Reply

    • admin says

      August 4, 2014

      Check out this page: https://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/basic-electronic-components/

      Oyvind

      Reply

  3. opolot david says

    March 23, 2016

    thanks nice course for me Ilove thise help me brother.

    Reply

  4. Sam says

    April 25, 2016

    you realy should put a PCB on this as i need it and others might to

    Reply

    • admin says

      April 26, 2016

      Not sure what you mean… A PCB does not have a symbol.

      Oyvnd

      Reply

      • David Hetherington says

        August 17, 2016

        a PCB is the board, but some of the capacitors have difference marking for the cap. positive.

        Reply

  5. chloe says

    September 13, 2016

    this is useless

    Reply

    • Sensis says

      October 6, 2016

      What’s the usefulness of this comment?

      It’s basic electronics for people that don’t know it.

      If you’re so good, create your own website, and please, do it for the pros…

      And please do forget co the link.

      Bless! S.

      Reply

      • Sensis says

        October 6, 2016

        *And please do forget to share the link.

        Reply

  6. ifeanyi job says

    January 11, 2017

    wonderful. Thanks alot

    Reply

  7. Malachy says

    January 22, 2017

    Please i want to learn more about electronics component and fuctions

    Reply

    • admin says

      January 24, 2017

      Maybe this could help: https://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/basic-electronic-components

      Best,
      Oyvind

      Reply

  8. chris mularn says

    February 19, 2017

    thanks guys this is great! i have just learnt so many things and understound basic electronics.thanks

    Reply

    • admin says

      April 17, 2017

      Great!

      Reply

  9. Damilare says

    April 14, 2017

    God bless the developer of this site and the above writer-up . I have really gained a lot today. But , I will appreciate if u can write up how to configure the pins in an integrated circuit as well as what each term stands for? God bless you….

    Reply

    • admin says

      April 17, 2017

      Hi,

      Maybe this could help:
      https://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/integrated-circuit/

      Best,
      Oyvind

      Reply

    • Bayareddy says

      October 3, 2020

      Name of happy love ♥️💙♥️💙❤️ really are the best

      Reply

      • Angel says

        October 5, 2020

        Hello i have a question

        Reply

  10. Liran says

    July 14, 2017

    Thank you very much Oyvind :-)
    Can you please explain how to reverse engineer a schematic from a circuit board?

    Reply

  11. Nadeem says

    July 14, 2017

    Very good tutorial, we learned lot , thanks

    Reply

  12. Nadeem says

    July 14, 2017

    Thanks dear, tutorial is very good and simple to learn

    Reply

  13. Amir says

    August 21, 2017

    Please help. I’m new in this world…
    On schematic, resistor with % mark instead of resistance?
    What iz mean?
    Thanks

    Reply

    • admin says

      August 21, 2017

      That’s the precision of the resistor. 5% means the actual value is within +/- 5% of the marked value.

      Reply

    • g says

      May 8, 2019

      default

      Reply

  14. Margaret says

    September 5, 2017

    Thank you for your tutorials! Is it possible to have a printable link for some of your pages, like this one? Thanks!

    Reply

    • admin says

      September 12, 2017

      Hi,

      I don’t have any way of offering that at the moment, but you could try just the print option of your browser.

      Best,
      Oyvind

      Reply

  15. Friday Matthew says

    November 29, 2017

    Please list the parts and their functions

    Reply

    • admin says

      December 1, 2017

      https://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/basic-electronic-components/

      Reply

Trackbacks

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