Physics transistors

[atar92point4]

looking at old physics unit 3 exams and noticed in the electronics section that there was questions about transistors (npn or something like that).
Would we get questions about transistor as well ?
Is transistor out of the study design ? if not how much are we expected to know ?

[Ancora_Imparo]

Yes, transistors were taken out of the study design around 5 years ago. Don't need to know anything about them.

[Alwin]

Yes, transistors were taken out of the study design around 5 years ago. Don't need to know anything about them.

I'm sorry to burst your "transistor free" bubble but when I did physics last year we had transistors in our course. Admittedly, it's not mentioned in the 2013-2016 study design, but it's still in the textbook (Chapter 4 electronics). Photo-transistors, too, were on our course. We had 1-2 questions on photo transistors in our sac last year.

Perhaps they have removed transistors this year, but ask your teacher just to double check.
Good luck with physics this year!

[b^3]

I'm sorry to burst your "transistor free" bubble but when I did physics last year we had transistors in our course. Admittedly, it's not mentioned in the 2013-2016 study design, but it's still in the textbook (Chapter 4 electronics). Photo-transistors, too, were on our course. We had 1-2 questions on photo transistors in our sac last year.

Perhaps they have removed transistors this year, but ask your teacher just to double check.
Good luck with physics this year!

Just because it's in the textbook doesn't mean it's on the study design. Transistors were not in the course in my year (2011) which was the same study design as last year afaik (checking through past exams for the 2009-2012 study design and there's no questions on them). If your school covers them in class then they could come up on sacs, since your teachers are the ones who are preparing those, but it won't come up on VCAA exams. Looking through the study design for this year, there is only four mentions of transistors, and they're mostly about extension for students who want to extend their knowledge, with links to applets and such.
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/physics/physicsd.pdf

EDIT: Somehow got a different link.... Refer to Alwin's link below.

[Lasercookie]

I'm sorry to burst your "transistor free" bubble but when I did physics last year we had transistors in our course. Admittedly, it's not mentioned in the 2013-2016 study design, but it's still in the textbook (Chapter 4 electronics). Photo-transistors, too, were on our course. We had 1-2 questions on photo transistors in our sac last year.

Perhaps they have removed transistors this year, but ask your teacher just to double check.
Good luck with physics this year!

Transistors were removed from the course in 2009. It wasn't on the 2009-2012 study design either. Here's an archive copy of the previous study design. http://web.archive.org/web/20111102090513/http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/physics/physicsd.pdf If your teacher decided to stick it on your sacs, well that was their decision. You will notice that on the exams from 2009 onwards there isn't any transistor questions, whilst the 2008 and earlier exams did have them.

Phototransistors are another term for photodiodes, they were on the previous and also are on the current study design. You don't need to know about pn-junctions and all that kind of stuff (but by all means learn about them if you're interested). For most things the current study design isn't too different from the 2009-2012 one.

[Alwin]

Just because it's in the textbook doesn't mean it's on the study design. Transistors were not in the course in my year (2011) which was the same study design as last year afaik (checking through past exams for the 2009-2012 study design and there's no questions on them). If your school covers them in class then they could come up on sacs, since your teachers are the ones who are preparing those, but it won't come up on VCAA exams. Looking through the study design for this year, there is only four mentions of transistors, and they're mostly about extension for students who want to extend their knowledge, with links to applets and such.
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/physics/physicsd.pdf

Yes, I know that. But the transistors topic is not marked out by the authors as extension, such as the topic "Forces on a moving charge". Yes, I did check the study design before I posted but some practise exams (mainly not vcaa) I did had questions on it. I agree tho that it is mainly extension, to explain how amplifiers work. I just found it interesting haha

Also, b^3: there is a new study design for 2013 - 2016 http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/physics/PhysicsSD-2013.pdf

[b^3]

Yes, I know that. But the transistors topic is not marked out by the authors as extension, such as the topic "Forces on a moving charge". Yes, I did check the study design before I posted but some practise exams (mainly not vcaa) I did had questions on it. I agree tho that it is mainly extension, to explain how amplifiers work. I just found it interesting haha

Also, b^3: there is a new study design for 2013 - 2016 http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/physics/PhysicsSD-2013.pdf

Yes I know there's a new study design, I mentioned it in my post... (not sure how I got a different link though, went to the VCAA study design page with the 2013 accreditation...)

Looking through the study design for this year, there is only four mentions of transistors, and they're mostly about extension for students who want to extend their knowledge, with links to applets and such.
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/physics/physicsd.pdf

Ctrl+f(ing) that one, there is not a single mention of transistors anyways.

Not all practice exam companies stick to the study design either, it's not uncommon to find a practice exam with a little bit extra materials that is outside the course. Again, not all books follow the study design, even if it's not marked out as extension then it may still not be end of year assessable material, it's best to always go and check the study design.

[Alwin]

Not all practice exam companies stick to the study design either, it's not uncommon to find a practice exam with a little bit extra materials that is outside the course. Again, not all books follow the study design, even if it's not marked out as extension then it may still not be end of year assessable material, it's best to always go and check the study design.

Yeah, I realised that too b^3. There's now not a single mention of transistors in the new study design.

I'm sorry to burst your "transistor free" bubble but when I did physics last year we had transistors in our course.

So scrap what I said before, sorry guys.

[denizli]

It’s always a good idea to study transistors. When you go out of your studies into the practical field, they are the most commonly used electronics components of today. Those who know transistors, know electronics.