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Which Side of the LED Does the Resistor Go On?


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audiophyle247 
Member - Posts: 12
Member spacespace
Joined: November 14, 2002
Location: United States
Posted: December 20, 2002 at 7:17 PM / IP Logged  
I am installing LED lights in my door handles to illuminate the power window switches so I can see them @ night.  I have all the correct LED's & resistors.  My question is which side of the LED does the resistor go on? The Positive side of the light? Or the Negative side of the light?  Please help me out.
beerstud136 
Copper - Posts: 100
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Joined: July 04, 2002
Location: Canada
Posted: December 20, 2002 at 9:46 PM / IP Logged  
not sure, but im guessing positive, since an LED is usually negative gorund... logic would say if the current is traveling through the positive wire, you would want the current to pass through the resistor before the LED 
CharlzO 
Member - Posts: 45
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Joined: June 02, 2002
Location: United States
Posted: January 18, 2003 at 5:31 PM / IP Logged  
Yes, it goes on the positive. I'm positive :)
haemphyst 
Platinum - Posts: 5,054
Platinum spaceThis member has been recognized as an authority in Electrical Theory. Click here for more info.spaceThis member has been recognized as an authority in Mobile Audio and Video. Click here for more info.spacespace
Joined: January 19, 2003
Location: Michigan, Bouvet Island
Posted: January 19, 2003 at 1:16 AM / IP Logged  
Actually, it matters not, as it is a series circuit.  The voltage drop across the components must equal the total voltage of the circuit, in this case 12v, and the voltage (electromotive force) does not care where the voltage is dropped.  However, since the current flows from the negative battery terminal (cathode on the LED) to the positive terminal (anode on the LED), if you really wanted to believe there is a proper place for the drop to occur, (as previously stated, there isn't one) then you should put the resistor in the negative (cathode) lead of the LED.
It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

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