# Making a custom circuit element in circuitikz

I am writing intro physics exams in LaTeX, using the circuitikz package to make circuits. A lot of the circuits use simple light bulbs, which we represent as a circle with a curly-cue inside.

Drawing this isn't really hard. But I'm planning on drawing several dozen light bulbs like this, and was hoping to make some kind of macro, hopefully one I can implement in the form

 (0,0) to[bulb, l=A] (2,0)


so that it integrates easily with the other circuitikz commands.

Is there a simple way to do this?

P.S. The "lamp" element predefined in circuitikz is probably great for real world circuit diagrams used by professional electricians; less so for sophomore pre-med majors taking an intro physics class.

• Welcome to TeX-SE! You may be interested in this question. You can either declare a new shape or combine existing shapes in such a way that you get what you want. – user121799 Jun 15 '19 at 1:06

This is just for fun:

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{circuitikz}
\tikzset{tbulb/.style={cute inductor,n=aux,append after command={(aux)
node[draw,circle,inner  sep=.35cm]{}}}}
\begin{document}
\begin{circuitikz}
\draw (0,0) to[tbulb] (2,0);
\end{circuitikz}
\end{document}


• You can reduce the number of loops using \ctikzset{bipoles/cuteinductor/coils=2} – John Kormylo Jun 15 '19 at 13:26