Hello,
So i've never really needed to use a transistor but i've heard of them. I've never really heard what they are and how they function and what they are used for.
Like don't CPU's have millions of transistors? And then I just saw transistors being used for a 3x3 led cube.
I've looked around the internet and i haven't been able to find an explanation that i can understand.
There aren't any descriptions i could find by Google-ling it that helped.
So....whats a transistor?
Try wikipedia.com
already did, I didn't really get it.
The very, very short answer is that a transistor is an on/off switch that can be controlled electronically. That is a gross simplification, but there are hundreds of references online that will fill in the rest for you.
Here's a good place to start.
Jim
JimG:
The very, very short answer is that a transistor is an on/off switch that can be controlled electronically. That is a gross simplification
A proper "gross simplification" of a transistor would be that it acts like a water valve, where the input controls how much the valve is opened or closed. To make it act like a switch - the valve is fully opened (on) or fully closed (off).
With a transistor, the control is via the base terminal, and the flow being controlled goes thru the collector and emitter terminals. Small signal levels to the base can control a larger voltage/current between the collector and emitter (thus allowing a small signal to effect a larger output - thus, the transistor acts as an amplifier). Driving the transistor to saturation (full swing of input voltage level on the base for maximum voltage/current thru the collector-emmiter terminals) causes it to act like a switch.
Are you trolling mate? If not then firstly you will need to understand eletricity then you may understand transistors. If you don't understand voltage, current, resistance etc then you need to know them first. After that this is a good link for understanding what they do. Transistor Circuits
If you are not in this field as it seems to be and you are using it only now for one of your project and you can't go in such big details then answer of "cr0sh" is the best..
So as cr0sh said
A proper "gross simplification" of a transistor would be that it acts like a water valve, where the input controls how much the valve is opened or closed. To make it act like a switch - the valve is fully opened (on) or fully closed (off).
With a transistor, the control is via the base terminal, and the flow being controlled goes thru the collector and emitter terminals. Small signal levels to the base can control a larger voltage/current between the collector and emitter
Now i'll suggest you to buy a transistor and google its model for datasheet and find its "base, collector, emitter (B C E)" among its three legs.
then experiment this yourself so that will make you clear.
I would strongly recommend that you you read a good A/level physics text book if you can get one. That's how I learned about transistors.. (allaboutcircuits.com also has a fantastic, free text book on electronics. )
Other than that, I'm afraid your question is a bit too general..
Basically, a transistor can be used to control the amount of current flowing between emitter and collector by changing the amount of current flowing into the base.
As you noted, CPUs are built out of transistors. In CPUs, transistors are used as on/off switches. That lets the CPU operate on digital logic, with "on" being a binary "one," and "off" being a digital "zero."
How exactly do transistors work? That's complicated. If you are looking for a simple explanation, I'm not surprised you have not found one. As others have said, there is none.
But there are some good textbooks on digital electronics. A good library will also have some books that will help.
OHHHH okayy! Now i get it. wow i can't believe i didn't figure it out with the knowledge that CPUs use them.
Yea so it signals an on/off, 0/1, true/false kinda stuff?
MMKay, I plan on shooting into the computer engineering major, I haven't gotton to any compent or classes like that, only the most basc stuff, calculus, programming 1, just the basics right now. I use arduino to have fun with lights and Leds and aspirations. Its cool
Either way thanks alot everybody!
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