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For a transistor inverter shown below, if IC sat is 10 mA, the value of RB and RC are

This question was previously asked in
UGC NET 2016 Paper 3 Electronic Science Question Paper (10-Jul-2016)
The correct answer is

155 kΩ and 1 kΩ

How a transistor inverter is designed. With the input high the transistor must be driven hard into saturation, so the output collapses to VCE(sat) ≈ 0.2 V (a logic 0). Two resistors set this up: RC fixes the saturation current, and RB supplies enough base current to sustain it.

Step 1 — the collector resistor. In saturation almost the whole supply appears across RC:

\(R_C=\dfrac{V_{CC}-V_{CE(sat)}}{I_{C(sat)}}\approx\dfrac{10}{10\times10^{-3}}\)

\(R_C = 1\ \text{k}\Omega\)

This single result already halves the field: only options 1 and 3 offer 1 kΩ.

Step 2 — the base resistor. The base current needed is

\(I_B\ \ge\ \dfrac{I_{C(sat)}}{h_{fe}}=\dfrac{10\ \text{mA}}{250}=40\ \mu\text{A}\)

and the base loop gives

\(R_B=\dfrac{V_i-V_{BE}}{I_B}=\dfrac{10-0.7}{40\times10^{-6}}\approx 233\ \text{k}\Omega\)

The essential point is the order of magnitude: with a base current in the tens of microamps, RB must be in the hundreds of kilo-ohms. A 150 Ω base resistor (option 1) would demand about 62 mA of base current — more than six times the collector current, which no sensible design would use and which would destroy the base-emitter junction. So RB is the 155 kΩ value, the keyed figure corresponding to a slightly larger base drive (an overdrive factor, which designers always add so that saturation is guaranteed despite spread in hfe).

Why an overdrive factor is standard. hfe varies by a factor of three or more between devices and falls sharply at saturation, so RB is chosen to give two to ten times the minimum base current. That is what separates a switch from a linear amplifier: in saturation \(I_C \lt h_{fe}I_B\), and the collector current is set by the external circuit, not by the transistor.

Hence, the values are RB = 155 kΩ and RC = 1 kΩ.

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