Understanding Schematics Based on Current


I remember @ChrisGammell talking about reading/understanding schematics from the point of view of current flow versus voltage based understanding. At least that was how I understood the comment. I think it was on the CE forums, but a quick search couldn’t find it.

I think this is a really interesting idea. That being said, I was wondering if there was some good resources to start looking at it from this point of view. I’m still new to the whole understanding circuits and any useful readings would be nice.



I think you’re referring to this:

They interviewed Dr. Eric Bogatin on The Amp Hour and he talked about signal integrity and he has some “Be The Signal” talks and rules of thumb that I found useful.


So I can definitely make more videos about this. It’s a big switch from how traditional electronics is taught.

Does it make sense to you to think about current in circuits instead of voltages?


Ah that’s it. Thanks @ALeggeUp. I have a flight coming up and that will be good material to listen to on the plane. As well as reading the Jim Williams app notes.

@ChrisGammell I would be interested in videos for sure. Examples are always really good for me to learn. I think I understand the idea behind it, at least in some form. But it sounds like it would be really helpful since everything consumes current or is limited by current.


I’d like to see more on this topic as well @ChrisGammell. Am I correct in thinking that we all use the concept of conventional current rather than electron flow ?


Yep, this is how I think about it. But if you’d believe it, either one is fine as long as you stick to that convention. The bigger change is thinking about how current flows through the circuit. Because voltage is the most naturally observable thing (via a DMM or oscilloscope) most people think in terms of that.