WHAT IS TRANSISTOR AND HOW TO TEST IT?
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals, regulator of current or voltage flow. Transistors act as a switch or gate for electronic signals. It is made of a solid piece of semiconductor material, with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor’s terminals changes the current flowing through another pair of terminals. Because the controlled (output) power can be much more than the controlling (input) power, the transistor provides amplification of a signal. Note: Transistors come in two basic types: NPN and PNP. The letters C, B, E stand for COLLECTOR, BASE, EMITTER which are the names of the three leads which come out of a transistor. TESTING TRANSISTORS Assuming you know if the transistor is NPN or PNP, and assuming you know where B, C, and E are, then just test the B-C junction and the B-E junction as if they were standard diodes. if one of those junctions is a “
