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I'm currently trying to lay out my first from scratch project on veroboard. While I get connecting things in series and parallel I'm trying to work out if a + shaped connection and a pair of + shapes would be equivalent.

T shaped connections

Would they?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Can someone edit this so that the image is embedded. \$\endgroup\$ Nov 12, 2010 at 14:58
  • \$\begingroup\$ Your wish is my command. 8-) \$\endgroup\$ Nov 12, 2010 at 15:00
  • \$\begingroup\$ my bad. I wasn't sure if the image was too big ;p \$\endgroup\$ Nov 12, 2010 at 22:31

2 Answers 2

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Yes.

For simple circuits, so long as all the same electrical connections exist then the circuit is equivalent.

(Only for high speed or some analogue circuits do wire length and shape start to have effects)

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    \$\begingroup\$ "Only for high speed" isn't quite true. You may have a low-frequency signal with a fast edge rate. This is particularly important for clocks since they are edge sensitive. \$\endgroup\$ Nov 12, 2010 at 21:00
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    \$\begingroup\$ "Low Speed" <> "Fast Edge". Anything with very fast edges is, by definition, high speed. \$\endgroup\$ Nov 13, 2010 at 0:21
  • \$\begingroup\$ Whether your project warrants fast edges is another issue. \$\endgroup\$ Nov 13, 2010 at 0:22
  • \$\begingroup\$ Or for low-noise circuits, where ground currents cause voltage drops in the traces that get into the signal. \$\endgroup\$
    – endolith
    Nov 13, 2010 at 2:56
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For simple projects on Veroboard, they're exactly equivalent electrically. However, there are other things you need to consider.

However, I think that a better question is to ask whether they're equivalent to you.

There's been some research (I can't remember where at the moment - Can anybody help?) that there's an inverse correlation between the number of wires coming from a single node and the readability of a schematic. For some circuits it makes sense, but for others it makes more sense to treat one wire as a bus and have the others coming off of it at different points instead of one crowded location on the schematic.

On a more physical sense, consider the ease of reworking the above wires. If you wanted to remove or replace a component, would it be easier to work on a joint which branches in three directions or just connects to a single wire?

They're electrically equivalent, but there are differences in their perceived meaning in a schematic and their physical construction.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ i was thinking physically - the schematic has it as a + shape, but being able to use the latter topology should make it easier when i lay it out. i'd consider the latter topology easier since if i make a major mistake and don't want to rework it from scratch, i can cut the trace and make one parallel to it, and i have more options anyway \$\endgroup\$ Nov 12, 2010 at 22:29

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