Transistor Case

Summer 2013

Transistor

A transistor is an electronic component that amplifies and directs electrical signals. It can be used as an amplifier or a switch. If used as an amplifier, a transistor increases the magnitude of the electrical signal (the electron flow, also known as current) applied to it. On the other hand, as a switch, it gives the ability to direct the electrical signal to the desired locations on electronic circuits. Therefore, transistors enable the control of electronic devices and make it possible to do calculations when arranged and connected together in a particular design.

A transistor is a tiny device which consists of 3 layers, making it look like a sandwich.

These layers are made of a semiconductor material, which is a material that changes its conductivity depending on external physical effects. It may behave as a conductor, allowing an electrical current to flow through it, or an insulator, which inhibits any current to pass through it. By itself and without any external influence, the transistor is an insulator. By means of the properties of the materials that form these layers, when a current is applied to the central layer, another current that has a bigger magnitude occurs throughout the sandwich. Not only does the transistor turn into a conductor when an electrical current is applied to it, but it also acquires a much more powerful current. This leads to two properties of transistors that are amplification and switching.

An amplifier transistor increases the magnitude of the electrical signal applied to it. It is widely used in designing devices that needs electrical signal enhancing, like electric guitar amplifiers and radios. Electric guitar amplifiers have transistors in them that increase the power of the signal they get from the guitar, resulting in a vast increase in the volume of the sound of the guitar. The signals radios receive from radio stations are very low powered, and cannot be turned into audible sounds. Transistors in the radios allow them to magnify these signals’ powers and transform them into signals powerful enough that can be turned into audible sounds.