| How Transistors Work
Completed: February 2000
The transistor has permeated almost every aspect of our lives, yet most
people could not tell you how one works. The goal of this project was
to communicate the function and components of a transistor to the general
public in an interesting and informative manner.
LukeW solution:
Due to the need to visually represent electrons and protons, and to
the desire to represent those particles within the established theories
of currently accepted physics, the interface was developed in a motion-rich
medium: Macromedia Flash. This allowed for the subatomic particles to
be depicted in constant motion, thereby, allowing bringing the visualization
in line with "electron cloud" theories as opposed the dated
"electron orbit" representations. The use of Flash also allowed
visual clues to be supplemented by audio cues: the combination provided
a better indication of the changes in transistor operations.
The tutorial also features a dynamic glossary system, which is demonstrated
by the "binary notation" link in the first paragraph of the
opening screen of the tutorial. The HTML for these glossary pages is
generated on the fly from an array of terms and definitions.
Services Provided:
Project Definition,
Workflow Analysis,
Visual Design, and Front-end
Development.
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