KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (KNUST),

KUMASI
COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
FACULTY OF COMPUTATIONAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

EXPERIMENT TITLE: AN EXPERIMENT TO OBTAIN COMMON BASE

CHARACTERISTICS OF NPN TRANSISTOR.
EXPERINMENT NUMBER: 30

ABENOR-EFUNAM DZIEDZORM 4652518

AGBOZO MARCELLIN EKUE 4652718
AGBOVE OPPONG HENRY 4652618
GROUP TWO (2)
DATE: 14th November, 2019.

1
 ABSTRACT
This experiment was done to determine the characteristics of BC547 which is an NPN
transistor. An NPN transistor is one of the commonly used Bi-Polar Transistors (BJTs) in the
field of electronics since it has more free electrons than free holes. It is regularly used for signal
amplification and switching. Device used in performing this experiment includes; Voltmeter,
VEE variable power supply, Base ammeter, VCC variable power supply, Emitter current meter,
NPN transistor, Breadboard. The experiment was done in two sectors, the input and the output
characteristics. Input characteristics was done using the variable power supply 0-30V(VEE)
connected to the emitter base circuit and another supply at 0-30V(VCC) connected to collector
base circuit. VCC was kept fixed at 0V and VEE increased from 0V-20V. This was performed
repeatedly for VCC =+5V and +10V. Readings was noted down as Ie (emitter current) and Veb
(emitter to base voltage. For output characteristics, the variable power supply 0-30V(VEE)
connected to the emitter base circuit and another supply at 0-30V(VCC) connected to collector
base circuit. Ie was kept fixed at 0V and VEE increased from 0V-30V. This was done repeatedly
for Ie =1mA, 5mA and 10mA. Readings was notes down as Ic (collector current) and Veb
(collector to bae voltage. A graph of Ie was plotted against Veb for the input characteristics and
another graph of Ic was plotted against Vcb for the output characteristics.

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Table of Contents
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... 2
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 4
THEORY ................................................................................................................................... 6
METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................... 8
DIAGRAM OF SET-UP. ........................................................................................................... 9
OBSERVATIONAL TABLE .................................................................................................. 10
CALCULATIONS AND GRAPH ........................................................................................... 11
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .............................................................................................. 13
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................ 15
PRECAUTIONS ...................................................................................................................... 16
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 18

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INTRODUCTION
The common base terminology is derived from the fact that the base is common to both the input
and output sides of the configuration. (Thomas L. Floyd, 2003) The base is usually the terminal
closest to, or at, ground potential.
The figure below showing the notation and symbol used for NPN transistor.

Fig 2.1. A diagram of a transistor.

Fig 2.2
In CB configuration, the base is common to both input (emitter) and output (collector). For normal
operation, the Emitter Base junction is forward biased and Collector Base junction is reverse biased.
In CB configuration, IE is +ve, IC is –ve and IB is –ve. So,
VEB=f1 (VCB, IE) and IC=f2 (VCB, IB)
With an increasing the reverse collector voltage, the space-charge width at the output junction
increases and the effective base width ‘W’ decreases. This phenomenon is known as “Early effect”.
Then, there will be less chance for recombination within the base region. With increase of charge
gradient within the base region, the current of minority carriers injected across the emitter junction
increases. The current amplification factor of CB configuration is given by,
α= ∆IC/ ∆IE
The input or driving point characteristics and the output or collector characteristics for a common-
base transistor amplifier is shown below

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Fig 2.3. A diagram showing the input and the output characteristics of a common Base.

The common-base amplifier can provide a reasonable level of voltage gain but suffers from
low input impedance and a current gain of less than one. However, this circuit is used
extensively for high-frequency applications because its terminal characteristics at high
frequencies are better than those of a common-emitter configuration using the same transistor.
The standard common-base configuration also requires two DC supplies rather than the one
needed for the common-emitter and common-collector configurations.
NPN transistor is one of the Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) types. The NPN transistor
consists of two n-type semiconductor materials and they are separated by a thin layer of p-type
semiconductor. Here the majority charge carriers are the electrons. The flowing of these
electrons from emitter to collector forms the current flow in the transistor. Generally, the NPN
transistor is the most used type of bipolar transistors because the mobility of electrons is higher
than the mobility of holes. The NPN transistor has three terminals – emitter, base and collector.
The NPN transistor is mostly used for amplifying and switching the signals.

Fig 2.4. A diagram showing the symbol and structure of NPN transistor

Figure 4 shows the symbol and structure of NPN transistor. In this structure we can observe
the three terminals of transistor, circuit currents and voltage value representations. The above
figure shows the NPN transistor circuit with supply voltages and resistive loads. Here the
collector terminal always connected to the positive voltage, the emitter terminal connected to
the negative supply and the base terminal controls the ON/OFF states of transistor depending
on the voltage applied to it.

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THEORY

Fig 3.5.

The working of NPN transistor is quite complex. In the above circuit connections, we observed
that the supply voltage VB is applied to the base terminal through the load RB. The collector
terminal connected to the voltage VCC through the load RL. Here both the loads RB and RL
can limit the current flow through the corresponding terminals. Here the base terminal and
collector terminals always contain positive voltages with respect to emitter terminal.

If the base voltage is equal to the emitter voltage, (Andrea, C., Alessandro, F.2015) then the
transistor is in OFF state. If the base voltage increases over emitter voltage, then the transistor
becomes more switched until it is in fully ON state. If the sufficient positive voltage is applied
to the base terminal i.e. fully-ON state, then electrons flow generated and the current (IC) flows
from emitter to the collector. Here the base terminal acts as input and the collector-emitter
region acts as output. (En.wikipedia.com, Transistors, retrieved March 2, 2019)

To allow current flow between emitter and collector properly, it is necessary that the collector
voltage must be positive and also greater than the emitter voltage of transistor. Some amount
of voltage drop presented between base and emitter, such as 0.7V. So the base voltage must be
greater than the voltage drops 0.7V otherwise the transistor will not operate. The equation for
base current of a bipolar NPN transistor is given by,

IB = (VB-VBE)/RB
Where,

IB = Base current

VB = Base bias Voltage

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 VBE = Input Base-emitter = 0.7V

RB = Base resistance

The output collector current in common emitter NPN transistor can be calculated by applying
Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL).

The equation for collector supply voltage is given as

VCC = ICRL + VCE ………… (1)

From the above equation the collector current for common emitter NPN transistor is given as

IC = (VCC-VCE)/RL

In a common emitter NPN transistor the relation between collector current and emitter current
is given as

IC = β IB

In active region the NPN transistor acts as a good amplifier. In common emitter NPN transistor
total current flow through the transistor is defined as the ratio of collector current to the base
current IC/IB. This ratio is also called as “DC current gain” and it doesn’t have any units. This
ratio is generally represented with β and the maximum value of β is about 200. In common
base NPN transistor the total current gain is expressed with the ratio of collector current to
emitter current IC/IE. This ratio is represented with α and this value is generally equal to unity.

7
METHODOLOGY
This was an experiment conducted to obtain the common base characteristics of an NPN
transistor. The experiment was done in two sections; one for the input and the other for the
output. For the input characteristics, the variable power supply 0-30V(VEE) connected to the
emitter base circuit and another supply at 0-30V(VCC) connected to collector base circuit. VCC
was kept fixed at 0V and VEE increased from 0V-20V. This was done repeatedly for VCC =+5V
and +10V. Readings was noted down as Ie (emitter current) and Veb (emitter to base voltage)
For output characteristics, the variable power supply 0-30V(VEE) connected to the emitter base
circuit and another supply at 0-30V(VCC) connected to collector base circuit. Ie was kept fixed
at 0V and VEE increased from 0V-30V. This was done repeatedly for Ie =1mA, 5mA and 10mA.
Readings was notes down as Ic (collector current) and Veb (collector to bae voltage. A graph
of Ie was plotted against Veb for the input characteristics and another graph of Ic was plotted
against Vcb for the output characteristics.

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DIAGRAM OF SET-UP.

Fig5.1 A diagram to show the common Base characteristics of an NPN transistor.

1. Voltmeter 5. Emitter current meter

2. VBB variable power supply 6. NPN transistor
3. Base ammeter 7. Breadboard
4. VCC variable power supply 8. Resistor

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OBSERVATIONAL TABLE
Table 6.1. Observation table for input characteristics.

Sr number VCC = OV VCC = +5V VCC = +10V

Veb Ie Veb Ie Veb Ie

0 0.10 0.00 0.00 0.10 0.00 0.10
2 0.68 0.33 0.62 1.39 0.61 1.37
4 0.72 3.22 0.64 3.30 0.63 3.34
6 0.74 5.19 0.67 5.25 0.64 5.25
8 0.75 7.18 0.72 7.19 0.66 7.29
10 0.76 9.15 0.74 9.15 0.67 9.18
12 0.77 11.16 0.76 11.09 0.71 11.20
14 0.78 13.10 0.77 13.14 0.74 13.13
16 0.79 15.09 0.78 15.07 0.76 15.13
18 0.79 17.12 0.78 17.13 0.77 17.14
20 0.80 19.12 0.79 19.11 0.78 19.18

Table 6.2. Observation table for output characteristics.

Sr IE = 0mA IE = 1MA IE = 5MA IE = 10MA

number
Vcb IC Vcb IC Vcb IC Vcb IC
0 0.00 0.00 0.65 0.46 -0.73 0.51 -0.75 0.53
2 1.99 0.00 0.92 1.01 -0.70 2.57 -0.74 2.64
4 4.02 0.00 2.87 1.01 -0.66 4.34 -0.73 4.53
6 5.93 0.00 4.83 1.01 0.52 5.04 -0.72 6.39
8 7.96 0.00 6.85 1.02 2.58 5.04 -0.69 8.31
10 9.92 0.00 8.86 1.02 4.54 5.04 -0.52 10.03
12 11.88 0.00 10.75 1.03 6.52 5.04 1.44 10.07
14 13.80 0.00 12.74 1.03 8.44 5.05 3.34 10.08
16 15.88 0.00 14.69 1.03 10.24 5.05 5.39 10.05
18 17.73 0.00 16. 66 1.04 12.32 5.05 7.13 10.07
20 19.68 0.01 18.62 1.04 14.37 5.05 9.54 10.08

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CALCULATIONS AND GRAPH

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12
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The common base amplifier is the least widely used of the three transistor amplifier
configurations. The common emitter and common collector (emitter follower) configurations
are far more widely used because their characteristics are generally more useful.

The common base amplifier configuration comes into its own at high frequencies where
stability can be an issue.

The emitter follower transistor amplifier characteristics enable the circuit to be used as a buffer
amplifier.

Fig7.1 A diagram showing the common base amplifier circuit

For both NPN and PNP circuits, it can be seen that for the common base amplifier circuit, the
input is applied to the emitter, and the output is taken from the collector. The common terminal
for both circuits is the base. The base is grounded for the signal and for this reason the circuit
may sometimes be called a grounded base circuit.

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The common base amplifier configuration is not used as widely as transistor amplifier
configurations. However, it does find uses with amplifiers that require low input impedance
levels. One application is for moving-coil microphones preamplifiers - these microphones have
very low impedance levels.

Another application is within VHF and UHF RF amplifiers where the low input impedance
allows accurate matching to the feeder impedance which is typically 50Ω or 75Ω. The
configuration also improves stability which is a key issue.

It is worth noting that the current gain of a common-base amplifier is always less than unity.

However, the voltage gain is more, but it is a function of input and output resistances (and also
the internal resistance of the emitter-base junction). As a result, the voltage gain of a common-
base amplifier can be very high.

The common base circuit does not find many applications for low frequency circuits - normally
a high input impedance and low output impedance are desirable. However, it finds use in some
high-frequency amplifiers, for example for VHF and UHF. In the common base configuration,
the input capacitance does not suffer from the Miller effect, which degrades the bandwidth of
the common-emitter configuration. Also there is a relatively high isolation between the input
and output and this means that there is little feedback from the output back to the input, leading
to high stability.

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CONCLUSION
This experiment was done in the laboratory to obtain both the input and the output
characteristics of a common base configuration. After the experiment, it was observed in the
common base configuration experiment that Common base configuration has nearly unity
current gain, hence it is not a current amplifier. it was realised that the base connection was
very common to the signal coming in and going out. After the experiment, it was detected that
the common base circuit can be used to amplify single stage circuit like a microphone, this is
due to its high frequency reply. The aim of the experiment was successful and the
characteristics of a common base of NPN transistor was gained and was able to attain the
necessary conditions. The curve plotted between base current Ib and the base-emitter voltage
Vibe is called Input characteristics curve. The curve for common base configuration is similar
to a forward diode characteristic. The base current Ib increases with the increases in the emitter-
base voltage Vbe. The effect of CE voltage does not cause the large divergence on the Ib-Vbe
curves. therefore, this method is recommended in obtaining the input and output characteristics
of a common base configuration using an NPN transistor.

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PRECAUTIONS
1. Parallax error was avoided by placing the eye such that the line of view perpendicular
to the ammeter and voltmeter
2. The average of three different values were taken to get accurate readings.
3. All connection contact was made fit and tight to prevent inconsistency of values.
4. Power supply was turned off after an input or output reading was taken to ensure
accurate readings and prevent wires from heating up.
5. We guaranteed that the voltage from the variable power supply did not surpass the
appropriate voltage for the other circuit apparatuses to prevent damage.

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1. What’s early effect? Have you observed early effect in your experiment?
Ans; The Early effect is the variation in the effective width of the base in a bi-polar
junction transistor due to a variation into the applied base-to-collector voltage.

2. Compare common base and common emitter configuration

Ans; Common base configuration has a common voltage gain. Common voltage refers
to the strengthening given to signals that appears on both input and output. Voltage gain
is the ratio of output voltage and input voltage. Whilst Common emitter configuration
is used when larger current gain is needed. The input signal is taken between the
collector and emitter terminal.

3. Justify the statement: common base amplifier is used as a buffer.

Ans; Common base amplifier is used as a buffer in the sense that they limit to specialize
RF applications. Common base configuration has nearly unity current gain, hence it is
not a current amplifier (does not provide current gain in excess of one). Because of this
unity current gain, it is termed as a buffer.

4. What is the value of phase change between input and output signals in common base
and a common emitter amplifier?
Ans; The value of phase change between the input and output signal of a common
emitter amplifier is 180 degrees. The reason for this is the fact that as the input voltage
rises so the current increases through the base circuit.

For common base amplifier, value of phase of change between input and output signals
is zero. The reason why its zero is because the common base amplifier is similar to the
common collector amplifier, hence the phase value is zero.

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REFERENCES
1. Serway, R. A. (1990). Physics for Scientists & Engineers (3rd ed.). Saunders.
p. 1150. ISBN 0-03-030258-7.Accessed on October 20, 2018, from website:
https://www.revolvy.com/page/transistors.

2. . Experimental Physics II Lab Manual, KNUST, College of Science, Department of

Physics, pp103-116, 2019

3. En.wikipedia.com, Transistors, retrieved March 2, 2019.

4. Robert J. Herrick, DC/AC circuits and Electronics, Principles and Applications, Theorem
Delwan learning, New York.

5. J. David Inwin, Basic Engineering Circuit Analysis(edition 7),John Wiley and Sons Inc,
2002.

6. Sears, F. W.; Zemansky, M. W.; Young, H. D. (1983). University Physics (6th

ed.). Addison-Wesley. pp. 843–844. ISBN 0-201-07195-9. Accessed on October 20, 2018,
from website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPN transistors

7. Andrea, C., Alessandro, F. (2015). World Journal of Physic Education Experimental

Determination transistor characteristics, 11 (1), 131-143

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