In this article, I will speaking about the working principles of a Potentiometer
Putting things into simple terms, potentiometer is basically an equipment that allows us to regulate resistance under a certain range depending on the potentiometer range. For instance, figure above shows a 20K Potentiometer that allows resistance adjustment from 0 ohm to 20K ohm.
Unlike fixed resistors, potentiometer allows resistance adjustment quite handily just by turning the dial of the potentiometer to the desired resistance value.
Potentiometer PINs
Potentiometer has 3 pins without any polarity. Meaning to say, these pins can be used in both directions; whether reversed and frontward. We will be discussing more in detail on this part which would help to use to understand better.
In order to understand the working principle of a potentiometer, we need to first know how does a potentiometer looks on the inside.
Figure above shows the inside of a potentiometer. The left and right legs are connected to a resistive material which almost looks like a strip. The center leg is connected to a wiper which makes contact with the resistive material.
Looking at this figure, we can understand that :
Left and Right leg connects to the starting and end point of the resistive material permanently
Middle Led can connect anywhere in between starting point and end point depending on the dial adjustment
This connection basically tells us that we can achieve maximum resistance by simply connecting the left and right leg in series as it connects the entire resistive material. For instance, in a 20K Potentiometer, connecting left and right leg, would produce a resistance of 20Kohm.
Whereas connecting the left or right leg with the middle leg, gives us a regulable resistance value. Right and left leg does not have a definite polarity and hence it can be used in both direction. Based on the figure above, the wiper can be moved to cover various length of resistive materials in order to produce varying level of resistance.
I hope reading thru this article gives you a picture on how does a potentiometer and how can we utilize it in our projects.
To understand more about potentiometer, feel free to check out this video :)
Commenti