| Electronics > Beginners |
| Potentiometer Range |
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| Richard Crowley:
Discussing an unknown circuit using words is almost useless. That is why we have schematic diagrams. Unless you can show us a schematic diagram of your test circuit, AND WHERE you are measuring the voltage, it doesn't mean much to us. There are plenty of resources about potentiometers available online. I spend a few quality milliseconds with Google and found hundreds. Here are a couple of the better examples I saw after a quick review... https://www.electricaltechnology.org/2015/01/resistor-types-resistors-fixed-variable-linear-non-linear.html#121_potentiometers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentiometer A potentiometer does NOT control voltage or current. It only controls resisistance. It COULD control voltage or current depending on how you connect it in a complete circuit. But when it comes down to Ohm's Law, a potentiometer is just like any other resistor. If you only connect between the "start" and "end" of the resistance, it is just like a fixed resistor. Except that you can change the resistance between each end and the wiper. And a potentiometer is effectively TWO resistors. One resistor between the "start" and the "wiper", and the other resistor between the "wiper" the "end" of the pot. |
| amyk:
Note that most potentiometers are not meant to pass large currents, and can be easily damaged if you do that --- ones which are, are usually called rheostats instead. |
| vidarr:
Thanks guys! Both the EE Library and Sparkfun links are great. The library link is especially awesome for me. |
| vidarr:
Is this a rheostat? I inherited it from my wife's dad. |
| ataradov:
This is air capacitor. |
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