very simplistic potentiometer question

I am just beginning to tinker with electronics. I've decided to start
very simply and work my way up to the fun stuff. I like the thought
of playing with LEDs for some reason so I'm starting there. I've
figured out already that without a resistor that LEDs last about .2
seconds before they fry. Now that I can keep one going for more than
5 seconds I'd like to add a pot to control the brightness. I know a
pot is a variable resistor that basically adds resistance. I had this
idea that I would simply insert it between my resistor and the
positive lead on my power source (a 9 volt battery in this case.) I
bought an assortment pack of pots and was astonished to find they have
3 leads. This doesn't fit into my notion of how they work so I am
obviously missing the big picture here. I figure the answer is simple
sow I've done a lot of searches on Google and yahoo and I can't find
simple enough circuits to make sense of how they work. I need some
basic info on how to wire a circuit using one led, a resistor, a pot
and a battery.

Barb

.

Relevant Pages

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