LABORATORY EXERCISE

TRANSISTORS
OBJECTIVES:

AT THE END OF THE EXERCISE, THE STUDENTS

SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

 BUILD CIRCUITS THAT SHOWCASE THE USE OF

BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTORS THROUGH
DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS.

MATERIALS:

 BREADBOARD
 1 PC. 470Ω RESISTOR, ¼ WATT
 3 PCS. 1 KΩ RESISTOR, ¼ WATT
 4 PCS. 3.3KΩ RESISTOR, ¼ WATT
 1 PC. 10KΩ RESISTOR, ¼ WATT
 3 PC. 100KΩ RESISTOR, ¼ WATT
 1 PC. 50KΩ VARIABLE RESISTOR (POT.)
 2 PCS. 2N3904 NPN TRANSISTOR
 1 PC. 100𝜇𝐹 ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITOR
 PUSH-BUTTON TACTILE SWITCH
 5 PCS. LED BULBS (ASSORTED COLORS)
 POWER SUPPLY SOURCE 9-VOLTS
 SOLID COPPER WIRES OR MALE-TO-MALE DUPONT
WIRES
 PLIERS OR WIRE CUTTER OR STRIPPER
 BASIC PRINCIPLES:

TRANSISTOR WAS FIRST DEVELOPED IN 1949 AT BELL

TELEPHONE LABORATORIES. THE NAME IS DERIVED
FROM THE “TRANSFER RESISTOR.” THE TRANSISTOR
IS BEST DESCRIBED AS A CURRENT AMPLIFIER - IT
USES A SMALL AMOUNT OF CURRENT TO CONTROL A
LARGE AMOUNT OF CURRENT. IT HAS THREE (3)
CONNECTION POINTS, CALLED THE EMITTER, BASE,
AND COLLECTOR.

IN TRANSISTORS, THE EMITTER, BASE, AND

COLLECTOR ARE DIFFERENT REGIONS OF
PERMANENT ELECTRICAL CHARGE, PRODUCING THE
EFFECTS DESCRIBED ABOVE FOR THE LEVER PIVOT.
THE PROPERTIES AND USES OF TRANSISTORS MAY
SEEM CONFUSING AT FIRST BUT WILL BECOME
CLEAR AS YOU PROCEED THROUGH THE
EXPERIMENTS.

PROCEDURES:

A. ELECTRONIC SWITCH

EMITTER – 4.1mA
COLLETOR – 3.4mA
BASE – 0.6mA
 1. BUILD A PROTOTYPE OF
THE GIVEN CIRCUIT
DIAGRAM AND ANSWER
THE FOLLOWING
QUESTIONS.

WHAT PART OF THE

TRANSISTOR DRIVES THE
LED TO TURN BRIGHT?
WHY DO YOU THINK SO?
-

B. CURRENT AMPLIFIER

EMITTER –
COLLETOR –
BASE –

1. BUILD A PROTOTYPE
OF THE GIVEN CIRCUIT
DIAGRAM AND ANSWER
THE FOLLOWING
QUESTIONS.

WHICH LED ILLUMINATES

FURTHER? WHY DO YOU
THINK SO?
- LED 2 ILLUMINATES FURTHER. IT IS BECAUSE
OF THE RESISTOR USED IN BOTH LEDS. THIS
IS BECAUSE LED 1 RECEIVES A LARGER
AMOUNT OF CURRENT.
 WILL LED2 SWITCH ON IF LED1 IS
DISCONNECTED? EXPLAIN THIS PHENOMENON.
- YES, IT IS BECAUSE IT IS A PARALLEL
CIRCUIT WHICH MEANS THAT THEY AREN’T
CONNECTED IN A SINGLE PATH WHICH
SPLITS THE CURRENT FLOW.

DO YOU THINK THAT THIS CIRCUIT DIAGRAM IN

FIGURE 2 SHOWS AMPLIFICATION? WHY?
- YES, IT DOES. IT IS BECAUSE OF THE
DIFFERENT RESISTANCE USED WHICH
CONTROLLED THE CURRENT TO FLOW AND
DISTRIBUTED DIFFERENT VALUES OR WHAT
WE CALL AMPLIFICATION THAT THE LOAD
GAINS MORE CURRENT.

C. TRANSISTOR BIASING (VOLTAGE DIVIDER)

EMITTER – 12.1mA
COLLETOR – 11.6mA
BASE – 0.5mA

1. BUILD A PROTOTYPE OF
THE CIRCUIT DIAGRAM IN
FIGURE 3.
2. PRESS THE SWITCH
WHILE TURNING THE
VARIABLE RESISTOR
FROM RIGHT TO LEFT
(0𝑘Ω TO 50𝑘Ω) AND
ANSWER THE
 QUESTIONS PROVIDED:

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LED LIGHT? WHY DID IT

HAPPEN?
- THE LED REDUCES THE BRIGHTNESS UNTIL
IT DOESN’T EMIT ANY LIGHT ANYMORE IT IS
BECAUSE THE HIGHER THE VALUE OF THE
RESISTOR. THE HIGHT THE VOLTAGE IT
RECEIVED THAT MAKED THE LED RECEIVED
LESS. SINCE WE ARE USING A
POTENTIOMETER. IT CONTROLLED THE
POWER SOURCE WHICH THEN AFFECTED
THE CURRENT FLOWING.

D. ILLUMINATING LED LIGHT

1. BUILD A PROTOTYPE OF
THE CIRCUIT DIAGRAM IN
FIGURE 4.
2. PRESS THE SWITCH FOR
TWO SECONDS AND LET
GO.
3. CALL THE ATTENTION OF
THE LAB FACILITATOR
AFTER ANSWERING THE
QUESTION.

4. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LED? WHY DID IT

HAPPEN?

- THE LED SLOWLY TURNS OFF. IT IS

BECAUSE THERE IS STORED ENERGY IN THE
CAPACITOR.
OBSERVATION AND CONCLUSION:

- WE LEARNED DURING OUR OBSERVATIONS THAT

THE MUCH GREATER CURRENT FLOWING THROUGH
THE TRANSISTOR'S COLLECTOR AND EMITTER
(KNOWN AS THE COLLECTOR CURRENT) IS
SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED BY A LITTLE CURRENT
DELIVERED TO THE TRANSISTOR'S BASE (KNOWN AS
THE BASE CURRENT). THE TRANSISTOR FUNCTIONS
BASICALLY AS AN AMPLIFIER OF CURRENT. THE
TRANSISTOR "TURNS ON" AND CONDUCTS WHEN
BASE CURRENT FLOWS BECAUSE IT GENERATES A
FORWARD BIAS AT THE BASE-EMITTER JUNCTION.

THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE LED, WHICH IS

CONTROLLED BY THE COLLECTOR CURRENT, CAN
BE ADJUSTED BY INCREASING THE RESISTANCE AT
THE BASE OR ALONG THE COLLECTOR-EMITTER
CIRCUIT. THIS PRACTICAL PROBLEMS EXPERIMENT
SHOWS HOW IMPORTANT TRANSISTORS ARE FOR
BOTH ELECTRICAL SWITCH USE AND CURRENT
AMPLIFICATION.

IN CONCLUSION, WE NOW UNDERSTAND

TRANSISTORS TO BE ELECTRICAL SWITCHES AND
CURRENT AMPLIFIERS. WE OBSERVED HOW THEY
CAN EFFECTIVELY AMPLIFY AND REGULATE
CURRENT FLOW IN ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS BY
OBSERVING HOW A MUCH GREATER COLLECTOR
CURRENT IS CONTROLLED BY A MUCH SMALLER
BASE CURRENT.
GUIDE QUESTION:

1. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE ROLE OF

TRANSISTORS IN CIRCUITS AND ELECTRONICS?
- A TRANSISTOR IS A FUNDAMENTAL
BUILDING BLOCK OF A MODERN CIRCUIT
BECAUSE IT CAN DO A LOT OF WORK IN
ELECTRONICS. IT ACTS LIKE A TINY
AMPLIFIER, WHICH AMPLIFIES WEAK
SIGNALS, AND IT ALSO HAS A SECOND ROLE
IN ELECTRONICS, WHICH IS TO SERVE AS A
SWITCH THAT CONTROLS CURRENT FLOWS.