20.2.2 Wires
So, how hard can it be to build a communication channel? Aren't they just logic circuits with a long wire that runs from one component to another? A circuit theorist would tell you that wires in a schematic diagram are intended to represent the equipotential nodes of the circuit, which are used to connect component terminals. In this simple model, a wire has the same voltage at all points and any changes in the voltage or current at one component terminal is instantly propagated to the other component terminals connected to the same wire. The notion of distance is abstracted out of our circuit models: terminals are either connected by a wire, or they're not. If there are resistances, capacitances, and inductances that need to be accounted for, the necessary components can be added to the circuit model. Wires are timeless. They are used to show how components connect, but they aren't themselves components. In fact, thinking of wires as equipotential nodes is a ...