On a breadboard, where do you put a DIP package?

• A. In the middle of the board
• B. On the bottom side of the board
• C. In the power rails
• D. With the potato chips

Answer: (A)

DIP packages are designed to be mounted across the breadboard’s central gap. The breadboard has contact strips on both sides of a middle trough, and straddling that gap lets each row of pins connect to its own set of contacts without shorting them together. This setup makes it easy to wire signals from the left and right sides into the circuit while keeping the device securely seated. The power rails along the edges are meant for distribution of Vcc and ground, not for mounting ICs, and the bottom side isn’t where a DIP would sit. So, place the DIP so it spans the middle of the board, with pins on both sides.