Function

• A circuit board serves as a placeholder for components and links them together. This allows them to electrically communicate with one another.
  
  

Uses

• Circuit boards can be found in many electronic devices. There are circuit boards in cell phones, radios, digital cameras and computers.
  
  

Types

• Two types of circuit boards include breadboards and printed circuit boards. Breadboards are really just temporary testing devices that allow you to use components and then reuse them later. Printed circuit boards are permanent, more complex and have conductive tracks between components.
  
  

Components

• Circuit boards have attached components. These can be transistors and resistors or can be complex chips like the microprocessor in a computer.
  
  

Printed Circuit Boards

• Printed circuit boards, also called PCBs, have wires printed on a sheet of insulator. The printed wires are also called traces and tracks. These allow components to be set down and still have electrical access to the rest of the board without any wiring.