ELECTRONIC DEVICES AND CIRCUITS (LAB)

Experiment No. 13: BJT Transistor as a Switch

 Experiment No. 13
BJT Transistor as a Switch
To observe the action of a BJT transistor as an electronic switch.
✓
To measure the voltage across the BJT transistor when it is in ON or OFF state.

Equipment Required:
DMM
•
• DC Power Supply =5V (fixed)
• Function Generator (having a facility of variable duty cycle)
• Resistor: 1-kΩ [Qty =2]
• Power Resistor: 22-Ω/5W [Qty =1]
• Si Diode (1N4001) [Qty =1]
• Transistor: 2N4401 [Qty =1]
• LED [Qty =1]
• DC Motor [Qty =1] Theory:

Transistor is a semiconductor device which can be used for switching purposes in

electronic networks. A BJT transistor can be driven back and forth between saturation and cutoff
region to act as a switch as demonstrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1
Part 1: BJT Transistor as a switch to glow LED
a. The schematic of Figure 11 shows how a BJT transistor is used to switch the LED. The
circuit operation of schematic diagram can be categorized in two different modes.
b. When the input voltage (Vin) is equal to 0V, BJT is in cutoff region. In the cutoff region
(both junctions are reversed biased), the voltage across the collector-emitter junction is
very high. Since input voltage (Vin) is zero, both base and collector currents are zero,
 hence the resistance offered by the BJT is very high (ideally infinite). It can be stated that
the switch is in OFF state (open).
c. When the input voltage (Vin) is equal to 5V, the transistor is driven into saturation
region. In saturation region (both junctions are forward biased), there is a small voltage
drop across the collector-emitter junction. The collector current (IC = VRC / RC) flows
from collector to emitter. Hence, it can be stated that the switch is in ON state (closed).

Figure 2
Procedure:
a. Construct the circuit of Figure 2 on the breadboard.
b. Set the input voltage (Vin) equal to 0V. Measure VBE, VCE, VRC, VLED and IC to fill the
Table 1.
c. Set the input voltage (Vin) equal to 5V, and measure VBE, VCE, VRC, VLED and IC.
Record these values in Table 1.
d. Observe that the LED glows when the input voltage is ‘0V’ and the LED will not glow
when the input voltage is ‘5V’.
Table 1
Input VBE VCE IC = VRC/RC Mode of State of
VRC VLED
Voltage Transistor LED
(meas.) (meas.) (meas. (meas.) (meas.) ON/OFF (ON/OFF)
(Vin) )
0 0 0 0 0 OFF OFF
0V
5V 0.69 0.01 2.82 2.11 2.8mA ON ON

Part 2: BJT Transistor as a switch to drive DC Motor

A BJT transistor can also be used to drive and regulate the speed of the DC
motor in a unidirectional way by switching the transistor in regular intervals of time as
shown in Figure 3. A DC motor is an inductive load so we have to place a freewheeling
diode across
 it to protect the circuit. By switching the transistor in cutoff and saturation regions, we
can turn ON and OFF the motor repeatedly. It is also possible to regulate the speed of
the motor from standstill to full speed by switching the transistor at variable duty cycle.
We can generate this variable duty cycle from a microcontroller IC or from a control
circuitry.
Procedure:
a. Construct the circuit of Figure 3 on the breadboard.

Figure 3

b. Set the input voltage (Vin) equal to 0V. Observe the rotation of DC motor. Is it rotating or
not?

Motor is not rotating due to input voltage is zero.

c. Set the input voltage (Vin) equal to 5V. Observe the rotation of DC motor. Is it rotating or
not?

Motor is now rotating.

d. Using function generator, apply an input square wave signal (Vin) having two amplitudes 5V
(peak) and -5V (peak). Set the frequency of square wave to 100-Hz with duty cycle equal to
50%. Observe the rotation of DC motor. Is it rotating or not?

Motor is rotating.
e. Is the motor rotating at the same speed as noticed in step 2(c) or not?

Motor would be rotating for one microsecond and will stop for one micro second. Speed would be

Same in both cases.

Part 1: BJT Transistor as a switch to glow LED

Part 2: BJT Transistor as a switch to drive DC Motor

OBSERVATIONS
For observing ON & OFF state of Motor, the frequency should be very small 100mHhz so that
the time period increased. And the On and OFF state of motor can be easily observed.

CONCLUSION
In this lab we understand the Use of BJT transistor as a switch .We performed LED and motor
experiments with it and observed its ON and OFF state