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The first circuit I ever built was a relay that blinked a light. I had just started getting curious about how it was possible to do things with electricity, and my dad showed me this circuit: It works like this: At the beginning, the relay is off. That means the battery is connected to the relay coil and the capacitor. The LED is not connected to anything, so it's off. But the capacitor quickly charges up and the electromagnet in the relay pulls the switch to the other position. That means the battery is no longer connected. But the charged up capacitor keeps the electromagnet energized. And it also powers the LED that is connected through the switch. It doesn't last long though. And soon the capacitor is discharged. That turns off the LED, and the switch falls back to it's original position. And the process repeats. Use the following or similar parts:
Connect it as in the image below, and you should see the LED blink about 1 time per second. Building simple circuits like this is actually a very important part of learning electronics. Especially when it doesn't work (which is common on the first try) and you have to investigate and try to figure out why it doesn't work ;) PS! Ready to take your electronics skills to the next level? Here are two ways I can assist you:
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