Practical Electronics/555

The 555 timer IC is a very versatile and useful component and can be used for many things, from giving clock pulses to switch debouncing and as an output transducer. The basic 555 IC is housed in an 8-pin carrier, and these come in DIL and SOIC formats. They run from 3-15V, and are generally quite hardy devices. The name "555" originated from a design feature, as there are three 5 kilo ohm resistors present in the input voltage divider network of the device.

Pinout

The 555 has 8 pins. The layout of these pins is shown to the right and the function of these pins in given in the table below.

Pin	Abbrv.	Name	Function
1	GND	Ground Supply	This is the 0V Power Supply pin for the IC
2	TR	Trigger	A low voltage (less than 1/3 Vcc) starts the timer
3	Q	Output	This is where the output signal comes from
4	RST	Reset	A low state on this pin resets the timer, which will not be enabled until the Pin goes high again.
5	CV	Control Voltage	This is used to adject the trigger voltage. Usually, it is unused, and is connected to ground to avoid noise in the circuit.
6	THR	Threshold	This pin stops the timer when the voltage reaches 2/3 Vcc.
7	DIS	Discharge	This pin is connected to ground when the output goes low. This is used to control timing in certain applications.
8	+V	Positive Supply	The positive voltage supply to the chip. Must be between 3 and 15V.