Why Does Base Current Start at 20uA at the Bottom in NPN Curve Tracers?

  • Thread starter Thread starter sandy.bridge
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Curve Npn
AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the confusion regarding the base current starting at 20uA at the bottom of the NPN transistor curve tracer. It is noted that for PNP transistors, both collector current (Ic) and collector-emitter voltage (Vce) are zero at the top right corner. The contributor suggests that the 20uA should actually represent the smallest Ic trace at the top, with base current (Ib) increasing with larger Ic values. This indicates a potential error in the marking of the graph. Clarification on this point is sought, especially in light of an approaching exam.
sandy.bridge
Messages
797
Reaction score
1
Hello,
Hoping this can be cleared up quickly as I have my final exam in 1 hour. My question is for the attached image. I know for pnp transistors that ic=0, and Vce=0 at top right hand corner. However, one thing I don't understand is why the base current starts at 20uA at the bottom, rather than at the top. Help is greatly appreciated!
 

Attachments

  • iv characteristic.JPG
    iv characteristic.JPG
    45.8 KB · Views: 494
Engineering news on Phys.org
Probably too late for your exam, but it looks wrong to me. 20uA should be the top (smallest Ic) trace, and Ib should step to larger values at the larger Ic values.
 
That's what I thought. Looks like whoever marked it was not paying attention.
 
Very basic question. Consider a 3-terminal device with terminals say A,B,C. Kirchhoff Current Law (KCL) and Kirchhoff Voltage Law (KVL) establish two relationships between the 3 currents entering the terminals and the 3 terminal's voltage pairs respectively. So we have 2 equations in 6 unknowns. To proceed further we need two more (independent) equations in order to solve the circuit the 3-terminal device is connected to (basically one treats such a device as an unbalanced two-port...
suppose you have two capacitors with a 0.1 Farad value and 12 VDC rating. label these as A and B. label the terminals of each as 1 and 2. you also have a voltmeter with a 40 volt linear range for DC. you also have a 9 volt DC power supply fed by mains. you charge each capacitor to 9 volts with terminal 1 being - (negative) and terminal 2 being + (positive). you connect the voltmeter to terminal A2 and to terminal B1. does it read any voltage? can - of one capacitor discharge + of the...
Back
Top