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Printed Circuit Boards

Pritned Circuit Boards also known as PCBs are integral components of almost all electronic devices such as cellphones, tablets, tv remotes and radios.  A Printed Circuit Board is made of a fibreglass, composite epoxy or a laminate material.  The board contains a number of tracks which are etched on the board.  These tracks are usually made of copper.  They are sometimes coated with nickel or gold to protect against corrosion.  

The board contains holes where components such as transistors, resistors, capacitors can be mounted.  These components are fitted on these holes and then soldered.  The components are connected to each other through the conductive traces.

A PCB contains two sides. The component side and the track side.  The component side contains the various components while the track side contains the tracks.  

Nowadays, there are multi-track PCBs as well which contain many tracks in the form of layers in a single board.  Printed Circuit boards used for graphic adaptors or mother boards can have as many as 12 layers.