On 25/10/2016 20:22, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 25/10/16 18:33, wrote:
On Tuesday, 25 October 2016 18:14:18 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:
On 25/10/16 17:15, Michael Chare wrote:
Would an elecrical oscillator such as the small ones shown in this
picture mind which way round they are installed?

http://tinyurl.com/jhfjnhd

If it's a quartz crystal, no.

If it's a whole circuit to make an oscillator, yes of course, it will
have a +ve and -ve, and generally an output too.

that photo is not of 'oscillators' of course. It's of crystals. They are
*part* of an oscillator.

2 terminal oscillators are certainly possible. But they're just crystals.

I've never seen a crystal oscillate on its own.

Neither have I. Increasingly though oscillator modules are sold rather
than bare crystals but they tend to have 4 or even 6 connections.

The canonical two terminal oscillator is the old bimetallic strip winker
for car indicators of old where the current flow heats the strip up and
breaks the circuit then cools and remakes. Likewise for a magnetic based
buzzers and traditional solenoid ding-dong doorbells.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown