How can I construct this chip?

Question

Since I am pretty new to electronics, and I want to learn how each part works in a circuit, I want to make a system that checks the light outside with a photo diode. With this "data," I then want the chip to directly adjust the power sent to the light bulb, so that the brighter it is outside, the dimmer the bulb will be. Any suggestions? If you can, schematics and/or explanations on how the circuit works would be greatly appreciated. Please don't post useless comments that are completely irrelevant to my question.

Answer 1

look up the working of a dimmer switch, particular the chance of hooking up inputs to it.

You would use the photocell to regulate (or shunt) the voltage accross the dimmer switch. This may not even require a chip as such, considering you are working with a 110v light bulb.

Answer 2

I'm not sure what you mean by "chip."  That usually means an integrated circuit (a self-contained unit with leads to connect it). What you want to do will take probably a dozen different parts; I don't know of any IC's that will control a high-voltage circuit directly from a photocell.  You certainly could not make one yourself.  (Neither could I.)  The signal from the photo diode is weak, and needs to be amplified to control a transistor or triac that controls the light bulb.  If you want to control a regular 110 volt light, you need to be very careful because the line voltage will be connected to most of the parts and they need to be covered up and not touching each other.  It would be easier and safer to control an LED or small incandescent bulb so that everything can be powered by a low-voltage power supply or batteries.  Of course, you can buy a light that automatically turns on at dark, but the brightness wouldn't change like you want.  There are some electronics experimenter kits that would let you build different kinds of circuits and I think most of them have a photocell.  It's easy to move the parts around individually and try different circuits.