Electronics: An Online Guide for Beginners

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Integrated circuits (IC) are usually referred to as chips. Inside them is a tiny piece of semiconductor(usually silicon) with large circuits built in. There are millions of different integrated circuits. The general types of integrated circuits include:

Logic circuits -
These IC's are basically decision makers. most contain logic gate circuits. (logic gates will be discussed in a later section).
Comparators -
These IC's compare inputs and gives an output.
Operational Amplifiers -
These are amplifiers. Works very much like transistor amplifier circuits.
Audio amplifiers -
These are used to amplify audio.
Timers -
These are counting IC's used for circuits that counts or needs to keep track of time.
Switches -
Switching IC's are also very much like the switching circuits of transistors.
Other -
There are thousands of other types. A lot of IC's are made for a special purpose like digital sound recording. Most IC's come with pinout information and how to use it. If not, you'll need one of those large reference books that have info on most of the IC's.