Components of a Transistor

• Most people with think that an electrical circuit is a complex thing. As you get to understand the parts involved, it seem less complicated. This goes the same for computer parts, motherboards and loads of other electronic parts. One of the smallest and simplest parts that make up larger electronic components is the transistor, and it's also one of the most important. These small devices are responsible for amplifying electricity to power the device it is placed in. There is generally more than one transistor in most devices, especially those powered by batteries. Since batteries do not generate enough electricity to power most things, a transistor is needed to create a strong enough current. There are three main components of a transistor that are involved in making it work. There is a collector, which contains a dormant electrical charge, a base, which transfers electricity from outside sources, and an emitter that sends out the amplified electrical current.
  
  

How a Transistor Works

• Each transistor has a store of electrical charge that remains there until it is turned on. In order to turn on a transistor, a small electrical charge needs to enter it via the base. When this happens, the electrical charge opens up the collector, and a more powerful charge leaves through the emitter. Electrical charge is measured in milliamps, and the typical transistor will multiply an electrical charge by one hundred times the number of milliamps it has. The electrical charge that is emitted by a transistor will then flow through a route designated by however the component it is attached to is designed. Complex electronics have many paths that electrical currents need to travel on, and therefore many transistors will be needed in order to constantly supply enough power to work the device.
  
  

NPN and PNP Transistors

• There are a couple different types of transistors out there. Two important ones are NPN and PNP transistors. NPN transistors use electrons to carry a current, and they are the most common type of transistor, such as the one described previously. PNP transistors are used more rarely and rely on the absence of electrons for a current to move through them. The way this happens is when an atom moves through the transistor, it doesn't have an electron, so it has to steal one from another, leaving that one without an electron. That makes holes in the current and generally causes the current to move slowly, atom by atom. This is not used in most circuitry, though for specialized ones, it is preferred.