I'm new to electronics and understand everything basic but... what is the point of a transistor?
Answer:
the transistor is the most basic active building block in electronics (I'll only discuss semiconductors or chips here)
it has 3 terminals (legs)
one is the input, and the other 2 are the outputs
by applying a current or voltage to the input you can control the current flowing between the other 2 terminals
in the most basic mode this means a transistor can be used as a switch (on or off)
it can also be used as an amplifier (the output current varies in proportion to the input signal)
it can also be used as an oscillator (with feedback)
there are several varieties of transistors - The Bipolar Junction transistor is like a pair of diodes - and is controlled by current. The field effect transistor (FET) is controlled by voltage and operates much like the older valves.
The processor in your computer contains millions of transistors arranged as Gates. Gates are arrangements of transistors that make a digital logic circuits (such as XOR, AND.) as well as storage elements (Flip-Flops). Combinations of Gates in their various forms (logic, storage registers, arithmetic logic units...) plus memory make up a processor.
Its essentially an electronic switch.
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Actually transistors are pretty darn basic. Are you sure you understand what you are saying when you say you understand "everything basic?"
A transistor is a switching device (binary) or an amplifier (linear) that uses a small voltage to control the flow of a larger voltage or current. Transistors are used in circuits to express logic relationships, and all chips contain transistors in microscopic form.
Transistors can also be used to control a voltage in a linear scale and thus amplify a tiny voltage, from a tuning circuit in a receiver or from a microphone, to give two examples, and use it to control a larger voltage for headphones or a speaker.
For much more information, try an internet search on "transistor."
Transistors have a variety of applications: electronic switches, amplifiers, detectors of weak signals, etc.
A transistor is a semiconductor device, commonly used as an amplifier or an electrically controlled switch. The transistor is the fundamental building block of the circuitry that governs the operation of computers, cellular phones, and all other modern electronics.
Because of its fast response and accuracy, the transistor may be used in a wide variety of digital and analog functions, including amplification, switching, voltage regulation, signal modulation, and oscillators. Transistors may be packaged individually or as part of an integrated circuit, which may hold a billion or more transistors in a very small area.n analog circuits, transistors are used in amplifiers, (direct current amplifiers, audio amplifiers, radio frequency amplifiers), and linear regulated power supplies. Transistors are also used in digital circuits where they function as electronic switches, but rarely as discrete devices, almost always being incorporated in monolithic Integrated Circuits. Digital circuits include logic gates, random access memory (RAM), microprocessors, and digital signal processors (DSPs).
Transistors are switches. Transistors are cheap to build... a computer chip can hold millions.
By applying a small voltage (or not) at the base of a transistor, you control whether or not current runs between the collector and the emitter.
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