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Form 5 PHYSICS

SIR MAS FAIZ

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5.3 TRANSISTOR

A transistor is a double p-n junction semiconductor with three terminals,

a. the emitter (e)

b. the base (b)
c. the collector (c)

There are two types of transistors: npn transistor and pnp transistor.

In a transistor, the emitter emits charge carriers (free electrons or holes). The charge carriers move
towards the base. Under certain condition, large amount of the charge carriers will pass through the
thin base layer and to be collected by the collector.

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For the symbol of the transistor, the arrow shows the direction. Take note that, for the emitter and base,
the current always flow from the positive terminal to the negative terminal.

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HOW DOES A TRANSISTOR WORK?

Transistors are widely used in digital circuits like computers. A transistor consists of two main parts
which are the base circuit and a collector circuit.

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CONNECTION OF TRANSISTOR

The terminals of transistor must be connected to the terminals of a cell correctly to avoid damaging
the transistor.

Transistor should be connected in such a way that

a. the emitter-base circuit is forward bias

b. the collector-base circuit is reverse bias

The base circuit is forward bias whereas the collector circuit is reverse bias.

Table below shows the response of bulb 1 (B1) and bulb 2 (B2) when switch 1 (S1) and switch 2 (S2)
are closed.

The collector circuit is controlled by the base circuit.

Current will flow in collector circuit only when the base circuit is closed.

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CURRENT IN A TRANSISTOR (I)

The current flows in the base, emitter and collector is called the base current (IB), the emitter current
(IE) and the collector current (IC), respectively.

Figure below shows the direction of the current in an npn transistor.

In general, IE is related to IB and IC through the formula

IE = IB + IC
Another thing that you need to know about the 3 currents is:

IE > IC > IB

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TRANSISTOR AS AN AMPLIFIER

The major application of a transistor is as a current amplifier.

A transistor can be used to amplify / magnify current changes because a small change in the base
current produces a large change in collector current.

A simple transistor amplifier circuit is shown in Figure below.

The collector current is directly proportional to the base current.

A graph of IC against IB which shows a straight line passing through the origin with a positive
gradient as shown in above. This proves that when there is no base current flow (IB = 0), then there is
no collector current (IC = 0). When the base current, IB increases, the collector current, IC also
increases. The gradient of the graph is the amplification factor, β of the transistor.

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Figure below shows another amplification circuit.

The base current is varying because of the small alternating voltage produced by the microphone.

The small changes in base current cause much larger changes in collector current.

The collector circuit includes an earphone through which you would hear an amplified version of the
original sound.

The input capacitor passes on current changes from the microphone but blocks the steady current which
might otherwise flow through the microphone from the potential divider. Such current would upset the
biasing effect of the potential divider.

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TRANSISTOR AS AN AUTOMATED SWITCH

Transistor can be used as automatic switches.

In the diagram above, the blub is off when the collector current is off or very small. It is switched on
when the collector current is increased.

The greater the base voltage, the greater the base current, and hence, the greater the collector current.

The voltage across the base circuits can be controlled by a potential divider.

According to the potential divider rule, the potential divider and resistance values are related with the
following equations:

𝑅1 𝑅2
V1 = xV or V2 = xV
𝑅1 + 𝑅2 𝑅1 + 𝑅2

Therefore, by varying the resistance R1 and R2, we can determine the voltage across the base V2 and
switch the bulb on and off.

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TRANSISTOR + LIGHT DEPENDENT RESISTOR (LDR)

A light dependent resistor (LDR) or photoresistor, is resistor sensitive to light.

It is inversely proportional to light intensity. In darkness it has 1 million Ohm, while during the bright
condition, it has low resistance value of a few tens of Ohm.

Light Operating Switch

In a light operating switch, we connect an LDR to the potential divider.

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TRANSISTOR + THERMISTOR

A thermistor is a resistor which its resistance is dependent on the thermal condition.

There are two types of thermistors:

a. Positive temperature coefficient (PTC) thermistor

b. Negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistor

For PTC, the resistance increases as the temperature increases. Whereas for NTC, the resistance
increases as the temperature decreases. In SPM, we assume all the thermistor used is the NTC
thermistor, as it is most commonly used.

Heat Operating Switch

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The heat operated switch circuit is similar to that of the light operated switch, except that LDR is
replaced by an NTC thermistor.

If heat is applied to the thermistor, its resistance drops. As a result, the base voltage will increase and
the transistor is switched on and the bulb lights.

Sound Controlled Switch

The microphone is used to convert sound to electric current.

The frequency of a sound wave is converted into electrical energy and switch on the circuit.

The variable resistor is adjusted as such that the transistor is switch on when sound is detected by the
microphone.

The function of capacitor is to prevent the direct current to flow in the base circuit.

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KSSM

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SPM QUESTIONS
SBP ‘18

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Sabah ‘17

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Kedah ‘17

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NOTES :

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