Why are there so many different transistors?

Because the transistor has three terminals, we can connect the ground terminal to either the emitter, the collector, or the base. This gives rise to three different modes — common emitter, common collector, and common base.

Why does a transistor have 3 legs?

Most discrete transistors have 3 terminals representing base, collector and emitter for a bipolar junction transistor (BJT) or gate, drain and source for a field effect transistor (FET) or Metal Oxide (Silicon) FET (MOSFET), hence 3 legs or for some power devices a ‘can’ which serves as the heatsink mounting (collector …

What are the different types of transistors?

Remember that people make careers out of this stuff. The first type is called Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs). A BJT transistor uses both electron and hole carriers, much like diodes. The holes and carriers are created by semiconductor materials known as P-type (holes) and N-type (electrons).

How to identify the three leads of a TO-92 transistor?

However the current must be limited to 3 mA approximately. The three leads of a TO-92 transistor may be identified in the following manner: Keeping the printed side toward us, the right side lead is the emitter, the center one is the base and the left hand side leg is the collector of the device.

What is an emitter in a transistor?

Emitter: It is the negative lead of the transistor. Well, the very basic working principle of a transistor is based on controlling the flow of current through one channel by varying intensity of a very smaller current that is flowing through a second channel. Based on how they are used in a circuit there are mainly two types of transistors.

What is the collector of a transistor?

The collector is the load carrying lead of a transistor and the load which needs to be switched is introduced at the collector of a transistor (see figure).