Teach Yourself Electricity and Electronics, Sixth Edition, 6th Edition

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CHAPTER

Electron Tubes

ELECTRON TUBES, CALLED VALVES IN ENGLAND AND KNOWN SIMPLY AS TUBES IN THE UNITED STATES, constituted the main active component in electronic equipment manufactured before the mid-1960s. In diodes, transistors, and ICs, the charge carriers are electrons and holes that “hop” from atom to atom in a solid medium. In a tube, the charge carriers are free electrons that fly through a vacuum or rarefied gas between charged metal electrodes.

The Main Advantage

Most electronics aficionados regard tubes as obsolete. Solid-state components have so many advantages over tubes, in so many applications, that this sentiment might seem completely justified. But despite their physical bulkiness, electron tubes have excellent electrical ...