---
title: Transistors
type: transistor
description: This is the description
images:
  - src: ./assets/components/TransistorsED.JPG
    alt: ‘note to self, not sure all of these are transistors’
usage: "A transistor is a switch that is controlled trough voltage"
whereToFind: Everywhere!
schematicSymbol: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/IEEE_315-1975_%281993%29_2.1.1.a.svg/200px-IEEE_315-1975_%281993%29_2.1.1.a.svg.png
alsoKnownAs: "Knob, pot, potentiometer, variable resistor"
---

The transistor is a switch that can be operated by applying a small voltage to one of the legs, causing another leg to "open" or "close". Which leg does what depends on the type of transistor, which can be found in the datasheet. Transistors can be influenced by ambient temperature[^touch], and therefore are usually placed in pairs to cancel each other out. Next to switching, transistors can also be used to amplify signals.

Transistors come in many shapes and sizes. Some are meant to dissipate heat, and are connected to a heatsink, they are ususally near a power source.

Remy & Huang stipt Moore's law en Jevons paradox aan als voorbeelden waarom het een enorme uitdaging is om obscolescence tegen te gaan (Remy & Huang, 2015). **Moore's Law** is de voorspelling dat het aantal transistors in een IC elk jaar verdubbeld. Dit insinueert en speelt in op het idee dat je elke twee jaar je IC's moet upgraden, omdat je anders achterloopt, en creeert de illusie dat innovatie en ontwikkeling oneindig is. (“Moore’s Law,” wikipedia 2025) **Jevons paradox** is het effect dat opspeelt wanneer door technologische ontwikkeling een resource efficienter wordt (minder gebruikt) de vraag juist vergroot. Denkende aan de computer die eerst een kamer vulde, en nu zijn er datacenters van honderden vierkante kilometers.


EN ook moores law hier:
Structured obsolescence is an economic strategy whereby a consumer technology is manufactured with the assumption that it has a limited life span and will need replacement with a newer and upgraded model within a given number of years. This logic benefits manufacturers and attempts to build a company’s financial future based on consumer band loyalty. The concept of structured obsolescence is hardwired into consumer technologies ranging from the refrigerator to the radio, from the computer to the car, and has been operational in the consumer products industry since the late nineteenth century. One of its effects has been to generate an excess of functional machines that are never exploited to their full potential. They are only partially used and then discarded when a new version, model, or upgrade becomes available on the market. Contemporary junkyards, thrift shops, and garages have become shrines to structured obsolescence. In these secondhand commerce zones lies an unwieldy accumulation of machines with low use-value precisely because they have already been used.6 uit [@parksFallingApartElectronics2007]


[^touch]: When circuit bending, transistors are great to touch, as the heat of your finger could alter the sound.
<ins>About Moore's law and transistors - and what kind of an expectation that creats</ins>
<ins>Also ; transistors and synthesizers are a good combo</ins>