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I've been trying to get into electronics after finding an old electronics kit in the back of my closet. It came with an Arduino Uno, a bread board, a bunch of wires, LEDs, resistors, and other things.

I decided to try to see if I could light an LED on a bread board for a few minutes before trying the Arduino.

I built this circuit:
enter image description here

When I try the circuit the LED lights but 30 seconds later it gets hot and burns out.

I'd rather know what I'm doing wrong before I burn more of my LEDs.

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    \$\begingroup\$ 10 bucks says you mis-wired it on the breadboard. Or have the wrong resistor. If you wired it up as your schematic shows, then it would never heat up, and probably be a pin prick of a light. 10kΩ resistor means it would get a fraction of a milliamp. A 10Ω resistor though, your talking around 90 milliamps, 4.5 times more than you should be pushing through a normal led. \$\endgroup\$
    – Passerby
    Jul 31, 2017 at 5:47
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    \$\begingroup\$ Please post a photograph of the whole circuit. I mean the actual circuit. Because I am sure something is not the way you think it is. \$\endgroup\$
    – user57037
    Jul 31, 2017 at 5:55
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    \$\begingroup\$ 3V battery and 2.1V RED can handle 20mA with current limiting 3-2.1V = 0.9V drop/20mA = ~50 ohms but 70k would be off , while 100 ohms gives ~10mA ... 220 ohms ~5 mA \$\endgroup\$
    – Tony Stewart EE75
    Jul 31, 2017 at 6:03

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Here is how a breadboard is connected internally. Check your connections, you may have bypassed the resistors.

enter image description here

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  • \$\begingroup\$ It looks like I screwed up the wiring. After mimicking your diagram It appears to work flawlessly. Thanks! \$\endgroup\$
    – ScienceMarc
    Jul 31, 2017 at 6:09

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