I don't know what it is, but you consistently have the clearest explanations I've ever heard. I took an entire class on Analog Devices at my college last semester and walked away with a very poor understanding of transistors. But these two videos you have on semiconductors and transistors have clarified things so much.
My guess is that he doesn't do the maths. He tells you what's going on with words and drawings. Bookwriters and lecturers have a tendency to - as they already understand the workings of things and you're supposed to be able to calculate stuff regarding the subjects - rely on maths to explain physics, and this is a very shite thing to do as it misses out on some very graphical things. Sure, if you look into it, the equations imply that a depletion zone exists and that a diode carries current better in one direction than the other, but the mathematical description for the motion of electrons isn't an efficient way of allowing you to understand the concept.
This is the single best explanation of transistors I've ever seen. You are not afraid to go into depth, which makes it all so much easier to understand! Instead of using a bunch of useless analogies, you just tell me exactly what's going on, I appreciate it!
If you have any issues understanding some words, just turn on "CC" closed caption and select your native language from the settings menu (gear) for a better understanding. :)
Damn. I have this phenomenon with your videos. You explain something I haven't heard, yet which I grasp the first time. Then you extend that knowledge and while you're explaining it my brain immediately thinks a step ahead and therefore I learn it myself and get immediate feedback whether that made sense. I love that. That is a teaching experience I'll never forget.
No one ever explained this concept in such an awesome way . came here randomly , but surprisingly learned a new way to see the transistor. thank you very much :)
well thats possibly the best transistor explanation i have ever seen. simple and short and yet somehow still covered everything, including the doping difference between collector and emitter, which is kind of crucial to understand why the transistor doesnt work right if you flip it around.
Thank you so much for making these videos. I'm writing a paper about the transistor and this really helped me a lot. You explain things without leaving questions like many others do, and I really appreciate that.
Currently sitting in my circuit analysis class bored out of my mind while the teacher is talking about calculating current in parallel circuits, decided to actually learn something. This is the best explanation of transistors I've found yet.
Thank you SO MUCH for making this video. I was taught about transistors from two separate teachers with multiple textbooks and I never got it. This 11 minute video was so articulate and clear where now I understand why npn transistors function the way that they function.
I think you've just clarified a fundamental point in electronics that has always confused me when thinking about these things, and even more when listening to explanations of it, and it's so clear now that I feel stupid for never considering the difference. You clarified it by making such a big deal about the distinction between conventional electrical flow and the real flow of electrons. The distinction between these two perspectives carries such a massive weight that almost nothing considered in one perspective translates directly to the other, even if they are descriptions of the exact same mechanism. Thank you for unveiling maybe 1% of the mysteries of electricity for my crippled brain.
This is the only satisfactory explanation of the workings of the transistor I have seen -- and I have seen many, either on video or in text form on the internet. Thanks Ben!
Learning how a transistor works from someone who uses the conventional flow while he explains it with elektronflow is very very hard! You did it right! Thx!
Good qualitative description of what's going on. Liked it! One description that I always found useful to understand transistor "action" is that once electrons from the emitter enter into the base, they are now "minority" carriers in the p - type base region, and will as such be swept across the reverse biased base - collector junction and into the n -type collector region.
Very well explained. I was having trouble teasing this out of a textbook and you made it clear in 10 minutes. Thank you for the time and effort to make this video.
@bigote in simple terms the emitter side is negatively charged while the collector is positive and the base is neutral. Current only flows through the transistor if you apply current through the base and emitter. This is because the emitter gets filled up with more electrons (from the base to emmiter circuit) to the point it can jump (difuse) into the base because it has no where else to go. After that the base becomes negatively charged. Then the collector which is positively charged attracts the negative electrons from the base and completes the curcuit
Ive been trying to deeply understand bjts for a few weeks now and this is by far the best explanation of how it acts as an amplifier. A lot of other explanations use the value of beta to justify this but that almost seems like circular logic to me 😅. Thank you!
This was so clear. Omg your voice your explanations are sooo good. I don't know anything about computers and have set myself to learn as much as I can and I've watched so many videos but they all lacked something. This one didn't, it went in depth and you didn't skip and steps to explain anything.
Great explanation I must have read more than 20+(LONG) articles on Transistors, but the subject was always fuzzy. This video clears thing up greatly , thanks.
I knew early on that my career (now behind me) would be in the liberal arts. But my father raised me to be a lifelong student and that meant curiosity...even about things I have no real grasp of. So that hasn't stopped me trying to learn at least something about the hardware that I've been using professionally and personally...and your videos are revelations for me!
Thank you! That's the clearest explanation of the workings of an NPN transistor using electron flow that I've discovered yet. It would be terrific if you would do a follow-on video on how a PNP transistor works using electron flow, which makes much better sense to me than conventional current flow, a fiction that defies science. Thanks again Ben!!
OMG. dude, that was absolutely worth an applause. i wish you were teaching my ELT classes (years ago of course). it takes time to find a gem of a teacher. okay- here he is.
Well done Ben, I was able to follow the whole video start to finish and I don't have a single question left :D (I'm usually someone who has a lot of questions left after an explanation :P)
Pretty clear explanation, it's been a long time since I studied and tried to figure this out for the first time. It's kinda electrons were fooled to get into the base and then abducted and kicked out to the collector XD Congratulations!
Well I like to add something to your explanation the reason that electrons flow from reverse biased part of the transistor is because of minority charge carriers and because the base is thin some of the electrons does fall in to lower conduction band from the higher conduction band therefore they pass right through the PN junction.
Nice video, I'm in a avionics class right now and our instructor is Polish. Nice enough guy but it's hard to understand him. This video helped me a great deal with it's simple break down.
finally a video that explains the interaction between the base and the collector. all the others i've seen just skip over that part and stop explaining after the diode formed by emitter and base
YES!! By far the best explanation on the web.... I just knew the transistor wasn't some magical device that opens between emitter and collector when you apply 0.7 volts to the base (NPN). ;)
You've made it really clear how the transistor "turns on". It seems that a small current flowing into the emitter and through the base is the catalyst that enables the larger current to flow into the emitter and through the collector. But how does it turn off? Why does removing the small current flowing from emitter through the base stop the larger current flow from the emitter through the collector?
Thanks! Ive watched many other videos on this BJT and I didnt quite understand, your video was so clear and helpful, I finally understand how it works :)
Ben, one of the best demo's on transistors i have seen, and I have seen a lot of them. Great job! I'm subscribing to you and look forward to seeing your past and future videos. Thumbing-up
How about a similar video abut JFET and MOSFET ? :( Can't believe how clear everything is to me, now that I've watched this! It would be soooooo helpful!
Coolest thing is that this is the only explanation I’ve watched where it was mentioned about asymmetry between emitter and collector, because usually from regular drawings and explanation it is totally unclear why transistors are asymmetric.
I am really glad that you used CE configuration instead of CB, personally for me CB was really confusing at first and it feels like a wrong way to teach the basics of a transistor. CE is a much better, common and natural way to teach the inner workings of a transistor, especially when combined with ebers moll model for later studies
I would like to see how the voltages are working. It looks like a relay where the higher current can flow due to the lower current opening the switch. In circuit are there more than one voltage/current source. Great to see you explain that Ben, I learn quite a bit from your vids. Thanks
The concept of Current Controlled Devices was also confusing to me when I studied transistors as an Electrical Engineering Student way back in the mid 1970s (gasp!). Field Effect Transistors (FETs) behave similarly to vacuum tubes in that these are Voltage Controlled Devices, however; common N-P-N and P-N-P transistors are best conceptualized as Current Controlled Devices (not voltage). Try to think of the Current in the Emitter-to-Base N-P Junction as kind of like a 'faucet' that controls the overall much greater and often proportional current from Emitter to Collector, such that you have two loops of current. When such a device is constructed to be biased at some ideal 'Q' point, then there will be a linear range of current both above and below this middle or Q point that is proportional, such that the change in current in the Emitter-Base is proportional to the larger current from the Emitter to Collector. This is the basis for an analog amplifier transistor circuit. If, however, the transistor is "doped" and constructed in such a way that a change in the input current loop causes the output current to "saturate" or go from zero to maximum like a "switch" then this is how logic gate transistors are designed, so that their behavior is more like an on/off switch, and it's less important to have a linear form of current control as used in an amplifier. Voltage is of course always related to current, but for regular transistors, it's best to think of (and use equations) based on the fact that these are Current Controlled Devices, and the voltages present merely establish such flow of current. - j q t -
9:11 I agree that the positive charges in the Base-Collector depletion region will attract the "diffused" electrons. But no matter how thin the base is, you have an EQUAL number of electrons closer to the base which will REPEL these electrons. I don't see how the attraction will overcome the repulsion and get "swept" into the collector.
You are right it is not because of the positive charge,it is because of the high kinetic energy of the electron passing from emitor to base. However, there is also a small current due to reverse bias in J2 called reverse saturation current in the same direction of other current
They probably have enough momentum to not be affected by the repulsion. But when they do cross the electrons, now they'll repel them in the other way, which is good. Either way, it is probably not those charges the affect their movement.
I don't know what it is, but you consistently have the clearest explanations I've ever heard. I took an entire class on Analog Devices at my college last semester and walked away with a very poor understanding of transistors. But these two videos you have on semiconductors and transistors have clarified things so much.
Same here. These videos give me the clearest explanations I've ever heard of transistors.
ye!
Well said.
My guess is that he doesn't do the maths.
He tells you what's going on with words and drawings.
Bookwriters and lecturers have a tendency to - as they already understand the workings of things and you're supposed to be able to calculate stuff regarding the subjects - rely on maths to explain physics, and this is a very shite thing to do as it misses out on some very graphical things.
Sure, if you look into it, the equations imply that a depletion zone exists and that a diode carries current better in one direction than the other, but the mathematical description for the motion of electrons isn't an efficient way of allowing you to understand the concept.
He learned a lot about teaching from working at Khan academy as well as personal experiences while learning maths earlier in life.
This is the single best explanation of transistors I've ever seen. You are not afraid to go into depth, which makes it all so much easier to understand! Instead of using a bunch of useless analogies, you just tell me exactly what's going on, I appreciate it!
Im not an english speaker but i could understand perfectly about bjt for the first time! Such a nice explanation. Thank you
If you have any issues understanding some words, just turn on "CC" closed caption and select your native language from the settings menu (gear) for a better understanding. :)
여기서 한국사람을 보다니..
Same, I'm frensh
Same, from China
Damn. I have this phenomenon with your videos. You explain something I haven't heard, yet which I grasp the first time. Then you extend that knowledge and while you're explaining it my brain immediately thinks a step ahead and therefore I learn it myself and get immediate feedback whether that made sense. I love that. That is a teaching experience I'll never forget.
No one ever explained this concept in such an awesome way . came here randomly , but surprisingly learned a new way to see the transistor.
thank you very much :)
This is the best explanation on how BJT works that I have ever heard or read from any book. Thank you.
I have watched like.... 20 videos about how NPN transistors work and this is the only one that has made sense. Thank you.
bruh me too. Those other ones just skip over the most important part.
The clearest explanation I've heard on diodes and transistors, answered all my questions, thank you so much!
well thats possibly the best transistor explanation i have ever seen. simple and short and yet somehow still covered everything, including the doping difference between collector and emitter, which is kind of crucial to understand why the transistor doesnt work right if you flip it around.
I didn't intend to know how amplification works but the way you explained helped me figure that out as well!
Thank you so much for making these videos. I'm writing a paper about the transistor and this really helped me a lot. You explain things without leaving questions like many others do, and I really appreciate that.
This is the clearest explanation of transistor operation I have ever seen. Thank you.
Currently sitting in my circuit analysis class bored out of my mind while the teacher is talking about calculating current in parallel circuits, decided to actually learn something. This is the best explanation of transistors I've found yet.
It is always better to visually see what's going on for learning. Thanks for the work in making this.
You are the only person on you tube who explains this so people can understand it. Thank you
Incredible explanation! You have a talent for making a complex subject very simple.
Thank you SO MUCH for making this video. I was taught about transistors from two separate teachers with multiple textbooks and I never got it. This 11 minute video was so articulate and clear where now I understand why npn transistors function the way that they function.
I think you've just clarified a fundamental point in electronics that has always confused me when thinking about these things, and even more when listening to explanations of it, and it's so clear now that I feel stupid for never considering the difference. You clarified it by making such a big deal about the distinction between conventional electrical flow and the real flow of electrons. The distinction between these two perspectives carries such a massive weight that almost nothing considered in one perspective translates directly to the other, even if they are descriptions of the exact same mechanism. Thank you for unveiling maybe 1% of the mysteries of electricity for my crippled brain.
This is the only satisfactory explanation of the workings of the transistor I have seen -- and I have seen many, either on video or in text form on the internet. Thanks Ben!
one of the top and best explaination of transistor. loved how you walked step by step with each concept
Thank you for making these videos. People like you are a treasure to this crappy world.
Learning how a transistor works from someone who uses the conventional flow while he explains it with elektronflow is very very hard! You did it right! Thx!
You understand in a comprehensive way. That's why your explanation is the best i have heard.
For sure, the clearest and most complete explanation of a BJT on YT. Well done!
Very good explanations on everything I know this is 6 years old now but I just wanna tell you I appreciate it!
Awesome video! now i understand the concept behind a transistor completely after 4 yrs of shitty class!
Good qualitative description of what's going on. Liked it! One description that I always found useful to understand transistor "action" is that once electrons from the emitter enter into the base, they are now "minority" carriers in the p - type base region, and will as such be swept across the reverse biased base - collector junction and into the n -type collector region.
Very well explained. I was having trouble teasing this out of a textbook and you made it clear in 10 minutes. Thank you for the time and effort to make this video.
Best explanation of transistor I've seen. Thanks
Dude you are the best. I have been watching numerous videos but your actually explained the full thing thoroughly for begginers
@bigote in simple terms the emitter side is negatively charged while the collector is positive and the base is neutral. Current only flows through the transistor if you apply current through the base and emitter. This is because the emitter gets filled up with more electrons (from the base to emmiter circuit) to the point it can jump (difuse) into the base because it has no where else to go. After that the base becomes negatively charged. Then the collector which is positively charged attracts the negative electrons from the base and completes the curcuit
Hope this helps
@bigote i used electron flow in the explanation btw
By far the best video I have ever watched on the explanation of how a transistor works
Very nice video, I finally understand how the transistor really works at the micro level now.
I am learning electronics all by myself and these video's help me a lot, thanks!
How did you studied?
Thank you. So much more clear than any other description I've heard.
Excellent explanation. A must watch video on the fundamentals of analog electronics.
Ive been trying to deeply understand bjts for a few weeks now and this is by far the best explanation of how it acts as an amplifier. A lot of other explanations use the value of beta to justify this but that almost seems like circular logic to me 😅. Thank you!
May I just say that you explain BJTs really well. Thanks for the video!
This is the best explanation about transistors that i have ever heard, thank you!
This was so clear. Omg your voice your explanations are sooo good. I don't know anything about computers and have set myself to learn as much as I can and I've watched so many videos but they all lacked something. This one didn't, it went in depth and you didn't skip and steps to explain anything.
7:15 I was never more exited in my life :)
Thanks man, i never really understood the transistor it's been like year and you literally made me understand it in 11 mins.
Great explanation I must have read more than 20+(LONG) articles on Transistors, but the subject was always fuzzy. This video clears thing up greatly , thanks.
I knew early on that my career (now behind me) would be in the liberal arts. But my father raised me to be a lifelong student and that meant curiosity...even about things I have no real grasp of. So that hasn't stopped me trying to learn at least something about the hardware that I've been using professionally and personally...and your videos are revelations for me!
Thank you! That's the clearest explanation of the workings of an NPN transistor using electron flow that I've discovered yet. It would be terrific if you would do a follow-on video on how a PNP transistor works using electron flow, which makes much better sense to me than conventional current flow, a fiction that defies science. Thanks again Ben!!
OMG. dude, that was absolutely worth an applause. i wish you were teaching my ELT classes (years ago of course). it takes time to find a gem of a teacher. okay- here he is.
Thank God you exist man, this has been messin with my brain for a few days.
Well done Ben, I was able to follow the whole video start to finish and I don't have a single question left :D
(I'm usually someone who has a lot of questions left after an explanation :P)
You Give Clarity on every Topic No University Teacher Does that!!!
The best explanations I have ever heard.
Thank you. Best and most clear, detailed explanation. Really, really appreciate it.
Pretty clear explanation, it's been a long time since I studied and tried to figure this out for the first time. It's kinda electrons were fooled to get into the base and then abducted and kicked out to the collector XD
Congratulations!
You have a gift for explaining things, man.
Very well explained. I understood more in this 11 minutes video about how the transistor works than a 3 hours class lol.
Thank ever so much Ben for those brilliant videos. It made things so much easier.
That was simply the best explaination ive heard about transistors . Thanks man .
Well I like to add something to your explanation the reason that electrons flow from reverse biased part of the transistor is because of minority charge carriers and because the base is thin some of the electrons does fall in to lower conduction band from the higher conduction band therefore they pass right through the PN junction.
excellent description, man! You helped iron out all of my conceptual issues
Nice video, I'm in a avionics class right now and our instructor is Polish. Nice enough guy but it's hard to understand him. This video helped me a great deal with it's simple break down.
most clear video for transistor ever!
finally a video that explains the interaction between the base and the collector. all the others i've seen just skip over that part and stop explaining after the diode formed by emitter and base
Thank you for the clear video! And thank you for sticking to electron flow over conventional 😁
Thank you for making these videos! Othwewise I would have failed my Technics class in school... stupid packets...
THANK - YOU !had to watch dozens of other videos before I could figure it out :)
your videos are amazing and i learn so much from them. thank you very much for sharing and educating about this!!!!!!!!
After a lab in circuit technology and countless tries to understand "the magic of transistors" I finally got it! Thank you! It is so simple after all.
Was looking for this explanation since 2 months ! many thanks.
Your videos are fantastic. Thank you for creating this.
How amazingly u made this all so simple to comprehend! Amazing work bro!!
YES!! By far the best explanation on the web.... I just knew the transistor wasn't some magical device that opens between emitter and collector when you apply 0.7 volts to the base (NPN). ;)
it really helped me understanding the working mechanism...Gratitude
the clearest explanation I've ever heard
Best explanation on the net, i finally got it. Can you explain saturation!
You've made it really clear how the transistor "turns on". It seems that a small current flowing into the emitter and through the base is the catalyst that enables the larger current to flow into the emitter and through the collector. But how does it turn off? Why does removing the small current flowing from emitter through the base stop the larger current flow from the emitter through the collector?
I have the exact same question!
Clearest explanation I ever seen. Love the content definitely subscribing and recomending to everyone I know
omg your awesome nobody online explains it so clearly
Thanks, Ben, for confirming my point at your previous video.
Very well explained!!!
Thank you very much!!!!
Finally understood...how a transistor works!!!
May god bless YOU :)
fantastic video! best explanation of how transistors work that i have ever seen!
Ben, your videos explain this so well i am blown away, nice work mate, this has gone a long way in helping me pass my current uni engineering course!
Falling in love with Ben Eater's voice.
My brain just clicked watching this. Spent a whole day trying to learn this concept out of a book. But it all makes sense now!
Perfect explanation. You're literally one of the best explainers I've seen. Brilliant. Liked and subscribed. :) Thanks a lot!
Best ever explaination on Transistor!! Great!! Thanks a lot!!
Thanks! Ive watched many other videos on this BJT and I didnt quite understand, your video was so clear and helpful, I finally understand how it works :)
Excellent explanation! Very thorough!
Ben, one of the best demo's on transistors i have seen, and I have seen a lot of them. Great job! I'm subscribing to you and look forward to seeing your past and future videos. Thumbing-up
How about a similar video abut JFET and MOSFET ? :( Can't believe how clear everything is to me, now that I've watched this! It would be soooooo helpful!
This is not for girls
@Just Cause oh god here comes the white knight brigade. No women don't belong in STEM even here in the west
Sexism has no place here
Alexandra Alexoi Quit electronics you miserable hag
It's truly breathtaking how viciously, stupidly sexist and racist the fields of engineering and computer science are.
Coolest thing is that this is the only explanation I’ve watched where it was mentioned about asymmetry between emitter and collector, because usually from regular drawings and explanation it is totally unclear why transistors are asymmetric.
This will really help me for my seminar paper. Good work!
You're the best channel I'm subscribed to by far, thank you for making this videos
I am really glad that you used CE configuration instead of CB, personally for me CB was really confusing at first and it feels like a wrong way to teach the basics of a transistor. CE is a much better, common and natural way to teach the inner workings of a transistor, especially when combined with ebers moll model for later studies
what a amazing explanation sir, huge respect
Actually your video finally made me understand how shits work. Thank you! I wish our education were based on such videos.
You are the Emitter
We are the collectors
And this video is BASE!
touché for such a clear explanation
I would like to see how the voltages are working. It looks like a relay where the higher current can flow due to the lower current opening the switch. In circuit are there more than one voltage/current source. Great to see you explain that Ben, I learn quite a bit from your vids. Thanks
The concept of Current Controlled Devices was also confusing to me when I studied transistors as an Electrical Engineering Student way back in the mid 1970s (gasp!).
Field Effect Transistors (FETs) behave similarly to vacuum tubes in that these are Voltage Controlled Devices, however; common N-P-N and P-N-P transistors are best conceptualized as Current Controlled Devices (not voltage). Try to think of the Current in the Emitter-to-Base N-P Junction as kind of like a 'faucet' that controls the overall much greater and often proportional current from Emitter to Collector, such that you have two loops of current.
When such a device is constructed to be biased at some ideal 'Q' point, then there will be a linear range of current both above and below this middle or Q point that is proportional, such that the change in current in the Emitter-Base is proportional to the larger current from the Emitter to Collector. This is the basis for an analog amplifier transistor circuit. If, however, the transistor is "doped" and constructed in such a way that a change in the input current loop causes the output current to "saturate" or go from zero to maximum like a "switch" then this is how logic gate transistors are designed, so that their behavior is more like an on/off switch, and it's less important to have a linear form of current control as used in an amplifier.
Voltage is of course always related to current, but for regular transistors, it's best to think of (and use equations) based on the fact that these are Current Controlled Devices, and the voltages present merely establish such flow of current. - j q t -
Thanks for the video , i couldn't understand this any where else
Nicely explaination, Negative region mean more negative material than positive region. silicon mix with other element
9:11 I agree that the positive charges in the Base-Collector depletion region will attract the "diffused" electrons. But no matter how thin the base is, you have an EQUAL number of electrons closer to the base which will REPEL these electrons. I don't see how the attraction will overcome the repulsion and get "swept" into the collector.
You are right it is not because of the positive charge,it is because of the high kinetic energy of the electron passing from emitor to base. However, there is also a small current due to reverse bias in J2 called reverse saturation current in the same direction of other current
They probably have enough momentum to not be affected by the repulsion. But when they do cross the electrons, now they'll repel them in the other way, which is good. Either way, it is probably not those charges the affect their movement.
thank you for making the concept soo clear!