Active vs. Passive Piezo Buzzer: What's Inside

Chapter: 6 — Buttons, Photoresistors, and Analog Sensor Input

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About This Poster

An active buzzer has a built-in oscillator chip that a passive buzzer lacks — this poster shows why that one internal difference changes how each is driven from code.

How to Use

• Explore — click a buzzer to see what's inside and how it's driven from code.
• Quiz Me — test whether you can match a driving behavior to the right buzzer type.
• Edit mode — open main.html?edit=true to drag the zone corner handles and calibrate boundaries once the poster image is generated.

Zones

1. Passive Buzzer — bare disc, pitch controlled by PWM frequency
2. Active Buzzer — disc plus oscillator chip, one fixed tone