Integrated Circuits

Integrated Circuits (ICs) are electronic components that achieve a variety of tasks. An IC is identified by the label printed on the top of the plastic housing. These components can have any number of pins and can be almost any size. They contain a single circuit printed on a silicon wafer which can contain hundreds of transistors and resistors all in one place. An IC literally is an entire circuit integrated into one little component.

ICs will almost always have an indicator in the form of a small tab shape, circle or both on one side of the body to indicate the left side of the chip. With the pins facing down (live bug) and the indicator mark to the left you can count the pins. The pins start at 1 on the bottom left and count up as you go the the right. Then the top row starts counting on the right and goes to the left. This can be used to easily tell someone where to connect something to an IC if you do not have a good photo of what to do.