CHAPTER-3

TRANSISTOR CHARACTERISITCS

Multiple-choice Questions

1. The advantages of transistor over vacuum tube is

a) no heat is required
b) small size and light in weight
c) very low power consumption
d) all of the above

2. Aging effect exists in

a) vacuum tubes only
b) transistors only
c) both vacuum tubes as well as transistors
d) none of the above

3. A collector collects
a) electrons from the base in case of PNP transistors
b) electrons from the emitter in case PNP transistor
c) holes from the base in case of NPN transistor
d) holes from the base in case of PNP transistor

4. In a PNP transistor with normal bias,

a) the collector junction has negligible resistance
b) only holes cross the collector junction
c) the collector-base junction is reverse biased and the emitter base junction is
forward biased
d) only majority carriers cross the collector junction

5. A PNP transistor is made of

a) silicon b) germanium c) either silicon or germanium
d) none of the above

6. In most transistors, the collector region is made physically larger than the
emitter region
a) for dissipating heat b) to distinguish it from other regions
c) as it is sensitive to ultra-violet rays d) to reduce resistance in the path of
flow of electrons.

7. In a transistor, the region that is very lightly doped and very thin is
a) emitter b) base c) collector d) none of the above
8. In an NPN transistor, the emitter
a) emits or injects holes into the collector
b) emits or injects electrons into the collector
c) emits or injects electrons into the base
d) emits or injects holes into the base

9. In a PNP transistor with normal bias, the emitter junction

a) is always reverse biased b) offers very high resistance
c) offers a low resistance d) remains open

10. In an NPN transistor, when emitter junction is forward biased and collector
junction is reverse biased, the transistor will operate in
a) active region b) saturation region c) cut off region
d) inverted region

11. A transistor will operate in inverted region when

a) emitter junction is forward biased and collector junction is reverse biased
b) emitter junction is reverse biased and collector junction is forward biased
c) emitter junction as well as collector junction are forward biased
d) emitter junction as well as collector junction are reverse biased

12. In a PNP transistor, electrons flow

a) into the transistor at the collector only
b) into the transistor at the base and the collector leads
c) out of the transistor at base and collector leads
d) out of the transistor at base collector as well as emitter leads

13. Most small signal transistors are

a) NPN, silicon, in a plastic package b) PNP, silicon, in a plastic package
c) NPN, germanium in a metallic case d) NPN, germanium in a metallic case

14. The reason for the failure of a transistor is

a) open weld at the wire leads to the semiconductor
b) short circuit due to by momentary over loads
c) over heating due to circuit failures
d) any of the above

15. The transistor is usually encapsuled in

a) graphite powder b) enamel paint c) epoxy resin d) any of the above

16. Arrow head on a transistor symbol indicates

a) direction of electron current in emitter
b) direction of hole current in emitter
c) diffusion current in emitter
 d) drift current in emitter

17. Power transistors are invariably provided with

a) soldered connections b) heat sink c) metallic casing
d) none of the above

18. The heat sink disposes off heat by

a) radiation b) natural convection c) forced convection d) conduction

19. The largest current flow of a bipolar transistor occurs

a) in emitter b) in base c) in collector d) through emitter-collector

20. Conventional biasing of a bipolar transistor has

a) EB forward biased and CB forward biased
b) EB reversed biased and CB forward biased
c) EB forward biased and CB reverse biased
d) EB reversed biased and CB reverse biased

21. The number specification that refers to FET with one gate is
a) 2N b) 3N c) 3Y d) 3X

22. In an NPN transistor, if both the emitter junction and collector junction are
reversed biased, the transistor will operate in
a) active region b) saturation region c) cut off region d) inverted region

23. In a normally biased NPN transistor, the main current crossing the collector
junction is
a) a drift current b) a hole current c) a diffusion current
d) same as the base current

24. A transistor has

a) collector b) emitter c) base d) all the above

25. In a PNP transistor, the electron flow into the transistor at

a) collector only b) emitter only
c) emitter and base d) collector and base

26. Which of the following statement is true?

a) FET and BJT, both are unipolar
b) FET and BJT, both are bipolar
c) FET is bipolar and BJT is unipolar
d) FET is unipolar and BJT is bipolar

27. On FET consists of

a) source b) drain c) gate d) all of the above
28. An FET has
a) very high input resistance b) very low input resistance
c) high connection emitter junction d) forward based PN junction

29. FETs have similar properties to

a) PNP transistors b) NPN transistors
c) thermonic valves d) unijunction transistors

30. For small values of drain-to-source voltage, JFET behaves like a

a) resistor b) constant-current source
c) constant-voltage-source d) negative resistance

31. In a JFET, the primary control on drain current is exerted by

a) channel resistance b) size of depletion regions
c) voltage drop across channel d) gate reverse bias

32. After reaches pinch-off value in a JFET, drain current becomes

a) zero b) low c) saturated d) reversed

33. In a JFET, as external bias applied to the gate is increased

a) channel resistance is decreased
b) drain current is increased
c) pinch-off voltage is reached at lower values of
d) size of depletion regions is reduced

34. In a JFET, drain current is maximum when is

a) zero b) negative c) positive d) equal toVP

35. A JFET has the disadvantage of

a) being noisy
b) having small gain band width product
c) possessing positive temperature coefficient
d) having low input impedance

36. A JFET can be cut-out with the help of

a) b) c) d)

37. The drain source voltage at which drain current becomes nearly constant is
called,
a) barrier voltage b) breakdown voltage c) pick-off-voltage
d) pinch-off-voltage

38. The transconductance ‘gm’ of a JFET is equal to

 a) b) c) d)

39. A depletion MOSFET differs from a JFET in the sense that it has no
a) channel b) gate c) P-N junctions d) substrate

40. For the operation of enhancement N-channel MOSFET, the gate voltage will be
a) high positive b) high negative c) low positive d) zero

41. The extremely high input impedance of a MOSFET is primarily due to the
a) absence of its channel b) negative gate-source voltage
c) depletion of current carriers d) extremely small leakage current of its
gate capacitor.

42. The main factor which makes a MOSFET likely to break down during normal
hand ling is its
a) very low gate capacitance b) high leakage current
c) high input resistance d) both (a) and (c)

43. The main factor which differentiates a Depletion MOSFET from an

Enhancement only MOSFET is the absence of
a) insulated gate b) electrons c) channel d) P-N junctions

44. The forward current gain, hfe, is defined as

a) constant b) constant

c) constant d) constant

45. A unijunction transistor has

a) anode, cathode and a gate b) two bases and one emitter
c) two anodes and one gate d) anode, cathode and two gates

46. Which semiconductor device acts like a diode and two resistors?
a) SCR b) triac c) diac d) UJT

47. A UJT has RBB = 10 K and RB2= 4 K. Its intrinsic stand-off ratio is
a) 0.6 b) 0.4 c) 2.5 d) 5/3

48. An SCR conducts appreciable current when its ………. with respect to cathode.
a) anode and gate are both negative b) anode and gate are both positive
c) anode is negative and gate is positive d) gate is negative & anode is positive

49. After firing an SCR, the gating pulse is removed

a) remains the same b) immediately fall to zero
 c) rise up d) rise a little and then fall to zero

50. An SCR may be turned OFF by

a) interrupting its anode current
b) reversing polarity of its anode-cathode voltage
c) low-current dropout
d) all of the above

51. A triac behaves like two

a) inverse parallel-connected SCRs with common gate
b) diodes in series
c) four-layer diodes in parallel
d) resistors and one diode

52. A triac can be triggered into conduction by

a) only positive voltage at either anode
b) positive or negative voltage at either anode
c) positive or negative voltage at gate
d) both (b) and (c)

53. A diac is equivalent to a

a) pair of SCRs b) pair of four-layer SCRs
c) diode and two resistors d) triac with two gates

54. An SCS has

a) four layers and three terminals b) three layers and four terminals
c) two anode and two gates d) one anode, one cathode and two
gates

55. An SCS may be switched ON by a

a) positive pulse at its anode b) negative pulse at its cathode
c) positive pulse at its cathode gate G2 d) positive pulse at its anode gate G1

56. The dv/dt effect in an SCR can result in

a) high rate of rise of anode voltage b) increased junction capacitance
c) false triggering d) low capacitive charging current

57. The di/dt effect in an SCR leads to the formation of

a) local hot spots b) conduction zone
c) charge spreading zone d) none of the above

58. SCR turns off from conducting state to blocking state on

a) reducing gate current b) reversing gate voltage
c) reducing anode current below holding d) applying ac to the gate
 current value

59. When a thyristor is negatively biased,

a) all the three junctions are negatively biased
b) outer junctions are positively biased and the inner junction is negatively
biased
c) outer junctions are negatively biased and the inner junction is positively
biased
d) the junction near the anode is negatively biased and the one near the cathode
is positively biased.

60. The minimum value of current required to maintain conduction in an SCR is

called its ……..
a) commutation b) holding c) gate trigger d) breakover

61. Diacs are primarily used as

a) pulse generators b) triggering devices
c) surge protection devices d) power thyristors.

State Whether the Following Statements are True or False

62. Forward bias is applied to an NPN transistor by positive voltage to the emitter
and negative voltage to the base.

63. A PNP transistor has a wafer of an N type semiconductor forming two junctions
with two P type semiconductors.

64. Base region is lightly doped and thin.

65. ICO in a diode and ICBO in a transistor consist of majority carriers.

66. The SCR is a silicon rectifier with a gate electrode to control when current
flows from cathode to anode.

67. The collector circuit in a transistor amplifier always has reverse bias, while the
base emitter circuit has forward bias.

68. The common emitter amplifier circuit is used most often because it has the best
combination of voltage and current gain.

69. The dc output voltage from a power supply increases with higher values of filter
capacitance but decreases with more load current.
70. Silicon transistors have much less leakage current as compared to Germanium
transistors.

71. PNP transistors are used as amplifiers while NPN transistors are used as
rectifiers only.

72. In the schematic symbol for transistor, the arrow head on the emitter indicates
the direction of hole current into the base for a P- emitter or out from the base
for an N- emitter.

73. In the NPN transistor, collector current is hole charges supplied by the emitter.

74. The positive voltage applied to the collector of an NPN transistor is the polarity
for reverse voltage.

75. The FET has a very high input resistance.

76. In an NPN transistor, the positive voltage at the base with respect to emitter
provides forward bias.

77. The collector region is made physically larger than the emitter region in order to
dissipate more heat.

78. The  characteristics of transistor compare collector current and the base
current.

79. Typical values of  for transistors are 0.98 to 0.99.

80. An NPN transistor has a P type semiconductor at the center forming two
junctions with two N type semiconductors.

81. In CE mode of transistor, the leakage current is low.

82. Bias stabilization prevents thermal run away.

83. The gate terminal of an FET corresponds to the collector of a BJT.

84. In an NPN transistor amplifier circuit, negative voltage is required at the

collector.

85. JFET has higher input impedance than MOSFET.

86. The TRIAC unidirectional gate controlled rectifier.

87. A Darlington pair consists of two emitter followers in cascade.

 88. In the CE circuit, the input signal is applied to the base and the output is taken
from the collector.

89. An FET is a unipolar transistor.

90. The TRIAC is a bidirectional gate controlled rectifier.

91. The SCR is a Silicon diode rectifier with a gate control electrode.
92. Reverse voltage gain, hre, of a CE mode transistor is , IB constant.
93. The output admittance is obtained from input characteristics of transistor.

94. The input impedance is obtained from input characteristics of transistor.

95. In the CC configuration, the current amplification factor,

96.

97.

98.

99.

100.

ANSWERS

01. d 02. a 03. d 04. c 05. c 06. a 07. b 08. b 09. c 10. a
11. b 12. b 13. a 14. d 15. c 16. a 17. b 18. b 19. a 20. c
21. b 22. c 23. a 24. d 25. d 26. d 27. d 28. a 29. b 30. a
31. d 32. c 33. c 34. a 35. b 36. a 37. d 38. c 39. c 40. a
41. d 42. d 43. c 44. c 45. b 46. d 47. a 48. b 49. a 50. d
51. a 52. d 53. b 54. d 55. c 56. c 57. a 58. c 59. c 60. b
61. b 62. F 63. T 64. T 65. F 66. T 67. T 68. T 69. F 70. T
71. F 72. T 73. F 74. T 75. T 76. T 77. T 78. T 79. F 80. T
81. T 82. T 83. F 84. F 85. F 86. F 87. T 88. T 89. T 90. T
91. T 92. T 93. F 94. T 95. T 96. F 97. T 98. T 99. F 100.T