How a transistor works

Ben Eater4 HN recommenders · recommended in 4 months, 2020–2023

YouTube

explainer · intro · evergreen · 2020–2023 on HN

Ben Eater gives a detailed look at how an NPN bipolar junction transistor works and what it does. It is an eleven-minute explanation aimed at building real understanding of the device.

HN commenters prefer it over other transistor explanations as an enlightening starting point that leads into building logic gates and a CPU.

4 comments from Hacker News

@1000100_10001012023-12 · in “From Nand to Tetris (2017)”

Aside from his basic 8-bit CPU, Ben Eater goes into how transistors work too: ▶ this video . Once you've got transistors, his videos walk you through making gates. Once you've got gates, he switches to the 74xx series and builds a CPU.

Recommends View on HN

@npilk2022-11 · in “How do transistors work, anyway?”

As someone who is not an electrical engineer, I found Ben Eater's videos on how semiconductors work and how transistors work interesting and enlightening. How semiconductors work: link How a transistor works: ▶ this video

Recommends View on HN

@ceronman2022-09 · in “How Transistors Work [video]”

This is a good explanation, but I prefer the one by Ben Eater: How semiconductor works: link How a transistor works: ▶ this video

Recommends View on HN

@news_to_me2020-08 · in “Black silicon photodetector breaks the 100% efficiency limit”

Great explanation — although only a week or so ago I wouldn't have understood a lot of it. Knowing how transistors work helps a lot: ▶ this video

Recommends View on HN