BREADBOARD

INTRODUCTION:
Breadboard is a rectangular plastic board which consists of multiple holes used for
temporary designing and testing the circuit. The other name of breadboard is plug board. It is a
Solderless board. It was invented by Ronald J Portugal in 1971.

In 1960’s the components were connected by using wooden boards. This technique is
called as “Wire Wrap” technique. The components get easily damaged and wires are
disconnected accidently by this technique. Thus, breadboard was invented to overcome this
problem. Breadboard can be reused due to its temporary mounting capability.

BREADBOARD ANATOMY:

Breadboard consists of array number of metal clips and is arranged in horizontal and
vertical manner. The metal clips are encased in a box made of white ABS plastic. Breadboard
consists of two types of metal strips namely Bus Strips and Socket Strips.
BUS STRIPS:
A bus strip mainly contains two set of rows which are presented at the top and bottom
of the breadboard. In top set of rows, one is for ground and another is for a supply voltage and
similarly for bottom set of rows. Metal clips in the Bus strips are connected horizontally with
one another. Bus strips are also called Power Rails.

SOCKET STRIPS:
Socket Strips are used to connect the components in a breadboard. Metal clips in the
socket strips are connected vertically. The socket strips are present at the middle portion of the
breadboard as two parts. It consists of 5 rows and 64 columns in each part. Socket strips are
also called Component rails.

RUBBING GAP:
 Rubbing gap is the gap which isolates the component rails horizontally into two equal
halves. Rubbing gab is used to fix the electronic components that need different inputs. Mostly
it is to fix the Integrated circuit(IC) because each pin of the IC has separate functionalities and
they should not be connected with each other. If it happens, then it will be shorted internally.

BREADBOARD CHARACTERISTICS:
In order to give two different power supplies to the two different circuit connections in
the breadboard, the bus strips are divided into two groups. That is, (divided into two 5
columns). Power rails divider separates the breadboard into two groups where separate actions
may take place. Breadboard can be extended by connecting binding post (tabs) or notch of two
different breadboards.

TWO DIFFERENT CIRCUITRY OPERATIONS IN A SINGLE BREADBOARD:

TYPES OF BREADBOARD:
Breadboards are available in different colors, different functionalities and different
sizes. The most common sizes of breadboards are

 Full sized breadboard

 Half sized breadboard

 Mini sized breadboard

 Tiny breadboard

FULL SIZED BREADBOARD:

In full breadboard, it has 830 tie points. It can be utilized for small and medium sized
projects. Its dimension is 16.3 cm x 5.3 cm x 1cm and weighs about 79 grams with a
standard double-strip at the middle and two set of power rails on both sides.

Full sized breadboard

CONNECTIONS ON FULL SIZED BREADBOARD:

HALF SIZED BREADBOARD:

The half size breadboard has 30 rows and 400 connection points. It has 4 power rails
with positive and negative markings. Its dimension is 8.5 cm x 5.5cm x 1cm and weighs about
38.9 grams. They are used for small projects which are used to fit sensors and some prototype
boards.

Half sized breadboard

CONNECTIONS ON HALF SIZED BREADBOARD:

TINY BREADBOARD:

This type of breadboard does not have power rails (Bus strips). Mini breadboard has 17
rows and 170 connection points It dimension is 46mm x 36mm x 10mm and weighs about
13.1 grams. It is suitable for tiny projects.
 TINY breadboard

CONNECTIONS ON TINY BREADBOARD:

MINI BREADBOARDS:
The mini breadboards are the little crumbs of the normal breadboard which are used for
the simplest configurations. The types of mini breadboards are

 4×4 mini breadboard

 2×4 mini breadboard

 2×8 mini breadboard

4×4 mini breadboard

The 4×4 mini breadboard has 4 rows and 4 columns with totally 16 connection points. The dimension of
this breadboard is 18mm × 13mm × 10mm. It weighs about 2 grams.

2×4 mini breadboard

The 2×4 mini breadboard has 2 rows and 4 columns with totally 8 connection points. The dimension of
this breadboard is 18mm × 8mm × 8mm. It weighs about 1.4 grams.

2×8 mini breadboard

The 2×8 mini breadboard has 2 rows and 8 columns with totally 16 connection points. The dimension of
this breadboard is 29mm × 8mm × 8mm. It weighs nearly 2.2 grams.

The mini breadboards are used for solderless prototyping purpose.

GENERAL ADVANTAGES:

 Breadboards are used to make integrated circuits.

 Breadboard requires no soldering since they are called as solder less boards.
 It is easy to test the working of circuits temporarily using breadboards.
 Breadboards are reusable.
 Breadboards are utilized for teaching electronics because the use of hot
soldering irons could be unsafe.