Understanding biasing and ohms law

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SUMMARY

This discussion focuses on biasing in NPN transistor circuits, specifically addressing the relationship between collector current, emitter current, and voltage drops. The collector current is established at 2.5mA with a collector resistor of 1K, resulting in a 2.5V drop across it. The circuit requires a base voltage of 3.2V to maintain proper biasing, with the base-emitter junction needing approximately 0.7V for forward bias. The collector current is determined by the emitter current minus the base current, following the formula I_C = I_E - I_B.

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  • Understanding of NPN transistor operation
  • Familiarity with Ohm's Law
  • Knowledge of voltage drops in electrical circuits
  • Basic circuit analysis skills
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  • Study the role of emitter resistors in transistor biasing
  • Learn about the impact of collector resistors on transistor operation
  • Explore the concept of transistor beta (β) and its significance
  • Investigate advanced biasing techniques for NPN transistors
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Electronics students, hobbyists working with transistor circuits, and engineers involved in circuit design and analysis will benefit from this discussion.

fran1942
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Hello, I am trying to get my head around biasing.
I do understand the principles.
In the attached circuit the Collector current is 2.5mA and the collector resistor is 1K. Therefore my circuit here is biased at 2.5V. The power supply is 5V.
So that would give a 2.5V drop over the collector resistor. The bit I don't understand is where does the other 2.5V drop come from to bring the VCC down to zero potential ?

Thanks for any help. This is just elementary stuff but that is where I am at.
 

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You got it up side down. You need to have the resistor on the emitter to 0V. You need to put the collector at above 3.2V, then you put 2.5V+0.7V=3.2V at the base to set up 2.5mA of emitter current which give approx 2.5mA at the collector.

Collector resistor like in your circuit does not effect current through the transistor in normal operating condition.

OK, the normal way of looking at NPN transistor circuit is that it operate at Forward Reverse bias. The base emitter is forward biased and the base collector is reverse biased. So.

1) For the transistor to turn on, you need to have about 0.7V from B to E and keep the C voltage above B.

2) Set up the operating current by an emitter resistor which in my example is 1K. If I put 3.2V at the base, the emitter voltage would be about 2.5V( remember 0.7V from B to E?). This will put 2.5V across the 1K resistor and therefore the emitter current is 2.5mA.

3) Collector is \beta\; times base current. So collector current is emitter current minus base current.

To summerize:

I_E=\frac{V_B-0.7V}{R_E}I_E= \beta I_B \;\Rightarrow I_C= I_E-I_B.
 
Last edited:

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