Untitled. said:
The most basic electronic component is the Diode, it has two ends and basically does one thing, lets current pass from the terminal A to the terminal B, but not the other way around. It is made of two pieces of silicon (most of time, there are also Ge and GaAs) together with different "doping" of elements that casues it to create a barrier of electrons. (material type P and type N, one is doped with "extra" electrons, the other with "less electrons). LEDs, for example, are diodes.
With diodes alone you can create logical gates like AND, OR and NOT, and these logical gates can create all of the logical gates like NOR, XOR, NAND, and other gates.
But diodes are not the most popular today for electronic logic, as there are pretty better alternatives like Transistors, which are just LIKE two diodes together. With a transistor you can control a greater current with a little current(a 10nA current thru the base lets pass a 1mA current through the collector, for example).
That is for digital electronics, there are also analog electronics, which are for example radios, audio amplifiler, guitar amps and effects, etc.
Analog electronics basically take a signal and amplify/distort it. They are usualy made by transistors.
Why does putting a lot of molten sand in a fashion makes a phone? I dont know
I think that very complex circuits might be just more simple circuit blocks put together. Integrated circuits are chips of a lot of transistors, diodes and resistors put together in ridiculously little pieces of silicum. every modern electronic device has IC's, they are basically the building blocks for electronics.