Your First Breadboard Circuit: Light an LED
Learn how a breadboard is wired inside and build a safe LED circuit from the Pi's pins.
A breadboard lets you build circuits without soldering. Rows of five holes are connected inside, and the long rails on the sides carry power and ground.
Video tutorial
Video by Quick Start Workbook, embedded from YouTube. The written steps below are our own and match the parts list.
Mission steps
Shut down the Pi
Always wire with the Pi powered off. Plugging wires into a live header is how pins die.
Place the LED
The long leg (anode, +) goes in one row, the short leg (cathode, −) in the next row.
Add the resistor
Put a 330 Ω resistor from the cathode row to the ground rail.
Wire to the Pi
Jumper from physical pin 11 (GPIO17) to the LED's long leg; jumper from pin 6 (GND) to the ground rail. Check the GPIO Map if unsure.
Power up and test
Boot the Pi. The LED stays off until code turns it on in the next lesson.
Questions
My LED does not light. Why?
It is probably backwards — flip it. Also confirm the resistor and wires are in the same rows.