Unit 2: Components

Reading and Speaking 1

1. How can electronic components be classified?
- Electronic components can be classified into three main categories:
passive, active, electromechanical.
2. What is the MOSFET? What are its advantages?
- The MOSFET was the first truly compact transistor that could be
miniaturized and mass-produced for a wide range of uses. Its
advantages include high scalability, affordability low power
consumption, and high density.
3. What is the electronic components?
- An electronic component is any basic discrete device or physical
entity in an electronic system used to affect electrons or their
associated fields.
4. What is the difference between passive component and active
component?
- Active components rely on a source of energy. Passive components
can’t rely on a source of power.

Reading and Speaking 2

1. How many types of transistor? What are they? What is the difference
between them?
- There are two types of transistors, a bipolar transistor has terminals
labeled base, collector, and emitter. For a field-effect transistor, the
terminals are labeled gate, source, and drain.
2. What are most transistors made from?
- Most transistors are made from very pure silicon, and some
germanium.
3. What does the essential usefulness of a transistor come from?
- The essential usefulness of a transistor comes from its ability to use a
small signal applied between one pair of its terminals to control a
much larger signal at another pair of terminals
4. What is a transistor? What is it composed?
- 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.
 Reading and Speaking 3
1. What advantages do integrated circuits have over discrete circuits?
Does they have any disadvantages? If yes, what are they?
- Advantages: cost and performance
- Disadvantage: high design cost
2. How are integrated circuits classified?
- Analog ICs, Digital ICs, and Mixed-Signal ICs
3. What equipments are integrated circuits used now?
- Computers, mobile phones, and other digital home
4. How were integrated circuits made practical?
- Integrated circuits were made practical by technological advancements
in metal–oxide–silicon (MOS) semiconductor device fabrication

Reading and Speaking 4

1. How many passive electronic components are mentioned in the
passages? What are they?
- Resistors, capacitors and inductors
2. What is a capacitor? What do most capacitors contain? Where are
capacitors widely used? What are they used for?
- A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy in an electric field.
It is a passive electronic component with two terminals. Capacitors are
widely used as parts of electrical circuits in many common electrical
devices.
3. What is an inductor? What does an inductor typically consist of?
- An inductor, also called a coil, choke, or reactor, is a passive two
terminal electrical component that stores energy in a magnetic field
when electric current flows through it. An inductor typically consists
of an insulated wire wound into a coil around a core.
4. What is a resistor? How is its electrical function specified?
- A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that
implements electrical resistance as a circuit element.