Physics Investigatory
Project

Kannan Malla

Oakridge International School

Tagarapuvalasa
Visakhapatnam
 
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INDEX

1.CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE

2.ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

3.AIM OF PROJECT

4.INTRODUCTION

5.THEORY

6.APPARATUS REQUIRED

7.PROCEDURE FOLLOWED

8.OBSERVATION
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AIM OF THE EXPERIMENT :

To construct a switch using a transistor and to draw the graph
between the input and output voltage and mark the cut-off,
saturation and active region

TRANSISTOR :
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify or
switch electronic signals and electrical power. It is composed of
semiconductor material usually with at least three terminals for
connection to an external circuit.

TRANSISTOR CIRCUIT CONFIGURATIONS :

Common base: This transistor configuration provides a low

input impedance while offering a high output impedance.
Although the voltage is high, the current gain is low and the
overall power gain is also low when compared to the other
transistor configurations available. The other salient feature of
this configuration is that the input and output are in phase.
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Common collector: This transistor configuration is also known

as the emitter follower because the emitter voltage follows that
of the base. Offering a high input impedance and a low output
impedance it is widely used as a buffer. The voltage gain is
unity, although current gain is high. The input and output signals
are in phase.
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Common emitter: This transistor configuration is probably the

most widely used. The circuit provides a medium input and
output impedance levels. Both current and voltage gain can be
described as medium, but the output is the inverse of the input,
i.e. 180° phase change. This provides a good overall
performance and as such it is often thought of as the most
widely used configuration.
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THEORY :
In the common emitter circuit of a transistor, emitter base make
input section and is forward biased and emitter collector
junction make output section and is reverse biased .

The variation in the output voltage with respect to the variation in

input voltage for a transistor are shown in figure.
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Applying Kirchhoff’s law, for input circuit

VBB = IBRB + VBE

And for output circuit

VCE = VCC - ICRC

But VBB = Vi and VCC = Vo, Then

Vi = IBRB + VBE

Vo =VCC - ICRC

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM :
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APPARATUS REQUIRED:

An npn transistor (BC 108 or 2Tx300), a 3 volt battery, two high

resistance (100k ohm,10k ohm),a six volt battery, a
bulb(6V,0.06A), 0-3 volt meter, one 0-6 voltmeter, two one way
keys, connection wires.

PROCEDURE:

❖ Make a circuit diagram

❖ Make all connections neat, clean and tight

❖ Note least count and zero error of voltmeters

❖ Make the voltmeters reading zero in Vi and Vo

❖ Increase the voltage from input battery Vbb from 0 to

0.6V and read it in voltmeter Vi and record the reading in
voltmeter Vo.
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❖ Further increase the input voltage (0.6<Vi <=1V) and

record the reading in both voltmeters. The reading in
voltmeter Vo, decreases continuously.

❖ With further increase in Vi (Vi>1V) and again record the

reading in both voltmeters. The reading in the output
voltmeter is found to decrease in further toward zero
through it may never be zero.

❖ Plot the reading of Vi and Vo by taking Vi on x-axis and

Vo the y-axis. The graph will be similar to figure as shown
in figure.

Transistor as a Switch Example No1

Using the transistor values from the previous tutorials of: β =
200, Ic = 4mA and Ib = 20uA, find the
value of the Base resistor (Rb) required to switch the load fully
“ON” when the input terminal voltage
exceeds 2.5v.

Transistor as a Switch Example No2

Again using the same values, find the minimum Base current
required to turn the transistor “fully-ON”
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(saturated) for a load that requires 200mA of current when the

input voltage is increased to 5.0V. Also
calculate the new value of Rb.

Transistor Base resistance:

Digital Logic Transistor Switch :

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Transistor as a Switch Summary :

Then to summarise when using a Transistor as a Switch the
following conditions apply:

➢Transistor switches can be used to switch and control lamps,

relays or even motors. When using the bipolar transistor as a
switch they must be either “fully-OFF” or “fully-ON”.

➢Transistors that are fully “ON” are said to be in their Saturation

region.

➢Transistors that are fully “OFF” are said to be in their Cut-off

region.

➢When using the transistor as a switch, a small Base current

controls a much larger Collector load current.

➢When using transistors to switch inductive loads such as

relays and solenoids, a “Flywheel Diode” is used.
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➢When large currents or voltages need to be controlled,

Darlington Transistors can be used.

PRECAUTIONS :

1. All connection should be neat, clean and tight .

2. The input voltage should be increase gradually.

RESULT :

The variation in the output voltage with respect to the

variation in input voltage for a transistor is observed.
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