well, The term breadboard is derived from an early form of point-to-point construction; and in particular the practice of constructing simple demonstration circuits (usually using valves/tubes) on a convenient wooden base, (similar to a cutting board).
A breadboard (solderless breadboard, plugboard) is a reusable solderless device used to build a (generally temporary) prototype of an electronic circuit and for experimenting with circuit designs. This is in contrast to stripboard (veroboard) and similar prototyping printed circuit boards, which are used to build more permanent prototypes or one-offs, and cannot easily be reused. A variety of electronic systems may be prototyped by using breadboards, from small circuits to complete central processing units (CPUs).
A modern solderless breadboard consists of a perforated block of plastic with numerous tin plated phosphor bronze spring clips under the perforations. The spacing between the clips (lead pitch) is typically 0.1" (2.54 mm). Integrated circuits (ICs) in dual in-line packages (DIPs) can be inserted to straddle the centerline of the block. Interconnecting wires and the leads of discrete components (such as capacitors, resistors, inductors, etc.) can be inserted into the remaining free holes to complete the circuit topology. Typically the spring clips are rated for 1 Ampere at 5 Volt and 0.333 Ampere at 15 Volt (5 Watt).
Answered by
satyaiitk
, an ibibo Master,
at
7:46 PM on July 03, 2008