The function can be understood as a traffic cop at the intersection of a major road and a small 1 lane road.
He has instructions to only let cars down the major road if cars also come down the small road.
When a small trickle of cars come down the small road the intersection can act like a dimmer switch. It can also take a very small signal, and with a secondary more powerful input, amplify it.
But if you quickly alternate between no cars and lots of cars that dimmer switch acts like a toggle switch giving you 1s and 0s.
The physics is basically, when you sandwich two elements in close proximity that give up their electrons in a very specific way you get the macro phenomenon described above.
The reason the elements give up electrons this way also happens to be at the heart of a lot of cool concepts of math and is a demonstrable proof of some physics that used to be just theory. Learning the physics of transistors can teach you concepts that tie together the history of science from Ancient Greece to Quantum physics.
“Amplification” has to be one the most misunderstood concepts In electronics
No signal is really “boosted” by some weird process. What happens is a very powerful DC signal (i.e constant) is selectively allowed through, being mediated by the input signal. The “volume knob” on a power amp works by ATTENUATING that constant DC signal prior to “amplification”
This feels like a typical political comment (or youtube ad) but applied to electronics. Calling the common model false, writing it off as "weird", and then making up a new model with a hint of truth but still less explanatory power than the original one. Like, just don't.
It seems like you're stuck focusing on where the energy comes from, hence wanting to talk about the "powerful DC signal" (eg power supply). But the concept of amplification says nothing about where the energy comes from - it's merely talking about the magnitude of a signal being increased. You can also say "an audio amplifier requires a power supply". Multiple concepts apply to the same situation! This is true everywhere in life, but it's easier to ignore for software and impossible to ignore for electronic design.
Thanks, now my left ear hurts. Haha. All I know is it goes to 11
(I love that you’re passionate about the details and it is certainly beautiful to imagine it the way you describe. Im picturing an ocean and the mediation little birds flying down and sculpting the crests of waves. The attenuation is like the Venetian MOSE flood barriers.)
Oh, I guess those intersections with sensor controlled lights for a tiny side road are just JFETs. Maybe that will make me less annoyed at having to wait.
He has instructions to only let cars down the major road if cars also come down the small road.
When a small trickle of cars come down the small road the intersection can act like a dimmer switch. It can also take a very small signal, and with a secondary more powerful input, amplify it.
But if you quickly alternate between no cars and lots of cars that dimmer switch acts like a toggle switch giving you 1s and 0s.
The physics is basically, when you sandwich two elements in close proximity that give up their electrons in a very specific way you get the macro phenomenon described above.
The reason the elements give up electrons this way also happens to be at the heart of a lot of cool concepts of math and is a demonstrable proof of some physics that used to be just theory. Learning the physics of transistors can teach you concepts that tie together the history of science from Ancient Greece to Quantum physics.