2006-11-16 06:11:31 · 3 answers · asked by Enterrador 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
They are both resistive elements.
A resistor is a passive component and a transistor is active
A resistor has a fixed resistance that does not depend on signal polarity or amplitude. It just sits there and does it's job, so it's called passive.
A transistor resistance varies depending on an applied control signal. It has a third pin dedicated to the control signal input, where a resistor only has 2 pins. The control pin is what makes transistors active.
There are other differences of course, in size, polarity, form factor, material, etc. I limited my answer to the main point of passive versus active.
2006-11-16 07:24:06 · answer #1 · answered by semdot 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a resistor is considered a passive device and has two terminals and nominally fixed resistance.
A transistor is considered an active device and has three terminals. One terminal is a control terminal and appropriately driving that terminal will affect the apparent resistance between the other two. Hence the term "semiconductor".
As a result, the resistor has a fixed restriction on the current flow within the device, the amount depending upon the fixed resistance value, R. The current that flows = V/R.
In the transistor, the amount of restriction is able to be modulated (by the base current of a BJT or the gate voltage of a MOSFET) using the third terminal and therefore it becomes an active control device.
https://www.electrikals.com
2015-09-04 18:19:54 · answer #2 · answered by Robert 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A transistor is an active electronic device that has gain and can amplify a signal.
A resistor is a component which limits current and dissipates power as heat when a current passes through it.
2006-11-16 06:18:16 · answer #3 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋