Ok, so today was my first day learning electronics. I picked up the Tab Electronics Guide to Understanding Electricity and Electronics (I hope I remembered that correctly) and started reading through until I got to the very basic circuit schematics. I had a question about this one (sorry, this one's hand drawn in GIMP because I haven't yet installed a schematics program):
**broken link removed**
I mean, this is as basic as it gets. The thing that I'm not sure about is the battery (DC current). Current runs from negative to positive (electrons want to leave negative ions in order to fill the outer layer of a positive ion, yada yada yada), but the schematic shows the negative lead of the battery going downwards, which means the current would get to the LED before the resistor. What the heck is the point of the resistor, then? Am I misinterpreting the battery symbol? The shorter line is negative, right?
Any help is greatly appreciated. And please don't rip me apart too bad
**broken link removed**
I mean, this is as basic as it gets. The thing that I'm not sure about is the battery (DC current). Current runs from negative to positive (electrons want to leave negative ions in order to fill the outer layer of a positive ion, yada yada yada), but the schematic shows the negative lead of the battery going downwards, which means the current would get to the LED before the resistor. What the heck is the point of the resistor, then? Am I misinterpreting the battery symbol? The shorter line is negative, right?
Any help is greatly appreciated. And please don't rip me apart too bad