On Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:46:58 +0100, Eeyore
m wrote:

John Fields wrote:
On Sat, 04 Sep 2010 07:56:51 +0100, Eeyorwrote:

Do please especially explain the relevance of the letter Q to indicate a
transistor or U for an IC.

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With pleasure. :-)

The reference designator assigned to a transistor: "Q", refers to
(Q)uantum.

From:

http://www.pbs.org/transistor/science/info/quantum.html


"Unlike water flowing along in one direction through a hose, electrons
traveling along as electrical current can sometimes follow weird
paths, especially if they're moving near the surface of a material.
Moreover, electrons acting like a wave can sometimes burrow right
through a barrier. Understanding this odd behavior of electrons was
necessary as scientists tried to control how current flowed through
the first transistors."

Is this really any different from bizarre current flow in certain of
your 'vacuum tubes' ?

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Well, yes, since a vacuum isn't quite the same thing as a single
crystal.

Which tubes are you talking about, BTW?

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JF