EXPERIMENT 304

TITLE: THE COMMON-EMITTER TRANSISTOR CONFIGURATION

Objectives
 To familiarize the student with the common-emitter output (collector) characteristics.
 To provide an understanding of the meaning and importance of OPERATING POINT
and LOAD LINE.
Equipment Required
Qty Apparatus
1 Basic Electricity and Electronics Module 12-200-B
1 Power Supply Unit, 0 to 20 V variable dc regulated (eg, Feedback Teknikit Console 92-
300).
3 Multimeters or,
1 Microammeter, 100 µA dc and
1 Milliameter, 10 mA dc
1 High Resistance Voltmeter, 10 V dc

Prerequisite Assignment
 Transistor Familiarization.
Knowledge Level
Before working this assignment you should:
 Know the operation of a potential circuit.

Safety Precautions Required

All instructions related to electrical connections must be observed and obeyed.

Practical 1
Construct the circuit of fig 4.as shown in ‘Circuit E’ of the Patching Diagram.

FIG 304.5 & 304.6

Set to 0.5 V, and then use the potentiometer to adjust to each value given in
the table of fig 5.
At each setting record in the appropriate column. Then repeat for each other
value.
Plot against for each value of on your graph.
The graphs you now have are the ‘output’ or ‘collector characteristics.
Questions

1. What happens to when becomes less than 0.6 V?

What is the significance of this value?

2. What do you notice about the effect of upon when is

greater than about 1.0 V?

Practical 2
You have concluded the first Practical that is very little affected by . Instead

however, it is almost entirely controlled by .

We say that the output circuit represents a CONSTANT CURRENT SOURCE.

If we wish to produce an output voltage, as we might in certain kinds if amplifier, this current
may be passed into a resistor to generate a voltage.

Fig 8 shows a circuit in which the collector bias is applied through a load resistor.

FIG 304.8
is the term now used for the bias voltage to distinguish it from, , because

when a current is flowing these two will be different.

By Ohm’s Law; = - R.
Therefore, when = 0, =

And when =0 =
Now, on your graph plot these two points and for:
= 0, R = 2 KΩ, and = +10 V.
Then plot two or three more points for other values of such as 2 and 5 mA using the

same values of R and

Join up the points by a line.

Your line should be straight because the equation ( = - R) is a linear

one; there being no square or cubic terms in it.

What you have now drawn is called a LOAD LINE. It shows how varies with

and turn with .

Construct a second load line for:

= 8 V and
R = 1k ohms.

Summary
In this assignment you have learnt that:
The collector or output characteristics for a common-emitter transistor can be used to predict
IC given VCE and IB.
A load line can be constructed on the characteristic to show the effect of a resistor in the
collector lead.
The load line can be used to determine a suitable operating point which can be set by
adjustment of the base current.
The variation in base current determines the operating range.
Results Table
 IB IC (mA) for VCE……………………..(V)
µA 0.5 1 2 5 10
0
10
20
30
40
50

Fig.5