How to use Transistor (BJT) as Switch

Transistor Terminology
A transistor has three legs: a collector, an emitter and a base. Below is the symbols
for an NPN and a PNP transistor.

NPN Transistor

PNP Transistor
Transistors

packages

Transistors comes in different packages and you have to find out the Emitter,
Collector and Base of it from datasheet or using multimeter. Some of the packages
are shown below.

Transistors as switches
The easiest way to understand transistors is to think of them as switches. Transistor
is a current controlled device. as the current flows through the base of the transistor ,
it works like a close switch. You can switch a big current (between the collector and
emitter) with a much smaller current (in the base). Lets look at a circuit diagram
below.

NPN transistor as a switch (OFF)

When there is no current in base of the Transistor then the transistor is in Cutt-off
State hence the transistor act as an open switch in series with the LED thus no
current flows in the circuit and the LED is OFF.

NPN transistor as a switch (ON)

When the current flow in the base of the Transistor then the transistor is in
Saturation State hence the transistor act as an Close switch in series with the LED
thus current flows in the circuit and the LED is ON.

The circuit above is a typical example of driving LED's from a microcontroller or a

PC's parallel port. The port is well protected because it will only supply a small
current, though the small current is enough to switch a much bigger load.

We can also use a single supply instead of two supplies for the transistor to act as
switch. The figure below divides a single supply in to two supplies. The switching
mechanism is same as discussed above.

There is no current to the base, so the transistor is in the cut off condition with no
collector current. All the voltage drop is accoss the transistor.

The base resistor is chosen small enough so that the base current drives the
transistor into saturation.
In this example the mechanical switch is used to produce the base current to close
the transistor switch to show the principles. In practice, any voltage on the base
sufficient to drive the transistor to saturation will close the switch and light the bulb.

Transistor Equation Relations

The following figure shows design equations for a transistor in saturation. There are 4 design
equations, each with 3 design variables. The center color coded circle shows which variable
is not present in the equation of its section.

References
P. R. Gray, P. J. Hurst, S. H. Lewis, R. G. Meyer, Analysis and Design of Analog Integrated
Circuits, 4th ed. New York: Wiley, 2001.