What's in a mouse?
mikewol12
Entry ID #: 2167
Created: Mon, Jan 11, 2016 7:44 PM
Introduction: For the Texas Instruments Electronics Challenge, I choose to take apart and analyze the electronic components of an old HP mouse. I choose it because it wasn’t functional and I’ve always wanted to see the inside of a mouse. Electronic Components Found: One of the electronic components that I found in the mouse were capacitors. The job of the capacitors is to store electric charges which is essential for the functionality of the entire device. The two types of capacitors that I found were Electrolytic and Disk capacitors. The difference between the two is that polarity doesn’t matter in the Disk Capacitor while it is essential for electrolytic capacitors. The second electronic component that I found were the resistors. The function of the resistors is to limit the amount of electrical current flowing through the circuit. Resistors have a specific color code which shows how much current or Ohms they can resist. The third electronic component that I found was the integrated circuit. It contains thousands to millions of tiny resistors, capacitors, and transistors. The function of the integrated circuit is to amplify signals sent throughout the circuit. On the mouse, there was only 1 integrated circuit. Conclusion: From this experiment, I learned how to identify different electrical components like how to identify a resistor thorough the resistor color code. I learned why each component is essential for the functionality of each device it’s in. Through this experiment, I learned about Ohm’s Law through researching resistors. I also learned that any circuit requires at least 3 things which are loads, a path, and a voltage source. This knowledge is essential if I plan to pursue any of the many careers involving electronics.
