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'''Electronics''' is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of [[physics]] to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate [[electron]]s and other [[Electric charge|electrically charged particles]]. Electronics is a subfield of [[electrical engineering]] which uses [[Passivity (engineering)|active devices]] such as [[transistor]]s, [[diode]]s, and [[integrated circuit]]s to control and amplify the flow of [[electric current]] and to convert it from one form to another, such as from [[alternating current]] (AC) to [[direct current]] (DC) or from [[analog signal|analog]] signals to [[digital signal|digital]] signals.
==History and development==
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[[Image:Audion receiver.jpg|thumb|One of the earliest [[Audion]] radio receivers, constructed by De Forest in 1914 ]]
[[Vacuum tube]]s (thermionic valves) were the first active [[Electronic component|electronic components]] which controlled [[Electric current|current]] flow by influencing the flow of individual [[Electron|electrons]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Guarnieri|first=M.|date=2012|title=The age of vacuum tubes: Early devices and the rise of radio communications|journal=IEEE Ind. Electron. M.|volume=6|issue=1|pages=41–43|doi=10.1109/MIE.2012.2182822|s2cid=23351454}}</ref> They were responsible for the electronics revolution of the first half of the twentieth century,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Guarnieri|first=M.|date=2012|title=The age of vacuum tubes: the conquest of analog communications|journal=IEEE Ind. Electron. M.|volume=6|issue=2|pages=52–54|doi=10.1109/MIE.2012.2193274|s2cid=42357863}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Guarnieri|first=M.|date=2012|title=The age of Vacuum Tubes: Merging with Digital Computing|journal=IEEE Ind. Electron. M.|volume=6|issue=3|pages=52–55|doi=10.1109/MIE.2012.2207830|s2cid=41800914}}</ref> They enabled the construction of equipment that used current amplification and rectification to give us [[radio]], [[television]], [[radar]], long-distance telephony and much more. The early growth of electronics was rapid, and by the 1920s, commercial [[radio]] broadcasting and [[telecommunications]] were becoming widespread and electronic amplifiers were being used in such diverse applications as long-distance [[telephony]] and the music recording industry.
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