Learn about electronics with fun experiments and projects

Created in partnership with Thames & Kosmos, Basic Electronics for Tomorrow's Inventors introduces you to essential electronics concepts through fun, do-it-yourself projects. You'll get tips for setting up your home workbench, safely handling materials, and creating a variety of entertaining gadgets. All of the projects and experiments use inexpensive, readily available electronic components and different types of breadboard, which creates a plug-and-play environment for you to build electronic circuits—no soldering required!

Inside you'll find:

Things You'll Need—lists of all the electronic components and equipment required for each experiment

A Circuit Diagram—shows how each of the electronic components are connected to produce the experiment

How the Circuit Works—identifies the building blocks used to make the circuit and helps you read circuit diagrams

Breadboard Layout—close-up photographs that guide you in building each electronic circuit

Time to Experiment—explains how to get your experiment working

Step-by-step projects include:

Phone experiments

Make an LED light up

Make an LED flash

Create colors with an RGB LED

Build a working telephone

Dashboard experiments

Create indicator lights

Build a temperature sensor

Make an electronic horn

Set up a water sensor

Security experiments

Design a basic alarm circuit

Make a pressure-sensitive mat

Create a touch-activated alarm

Build an electronic security keypad

Make a reading light that switches on when it goes dark

Electronic game experiments

Create a random number generator

Flip an electronic coin

Get ready for infrared target practice

Build a sound-effects generator