Because the Figure 1 you posted refers to a *4-terminal* device, not a 3-terminal one. If you look at the schematic symbol in Figure 1, you'll note that the body terminal is a separate terminal not connected to the source terminal. MOSFETs for sale are almost always 3-terminal devices where source and body are connected together. If memory serves me right (not 100% sure -- seems to be corroborated by [this handout][1]), in a 4-terminal device there is no difference between source and drain, <strike>and it is the gate-body voltage that determines the on-state of the channel -- with the caveat that the body is supposed to be the most negative voltage in the circuit for an N-channel device, or most positive voltage in the circuit for a P-channel device.</strike> (**edit:** found [a reference for MOSFET device physics][2]. The source-drain behavior is still symmetric, but depends on both gate-source and gate-drain voltages. In N-channel, if both are negative, the channel is nonconducting. If one is greater than the threshold voltage, then you get saturation behavior (constant-current). If both are greater than the threshold voltage, you get triode behavior (constant-resistance). The body/bulk/substrate still needs to be the most negative voltage in the circuit, so to get the reversed behavior in a circuit, body + drain would need to be tied together. In a P-channel device, this polarity is reversed.) Look carefully at the conventional schematic symbols for N- and P-channel MOSFETs ([from Wikipedia][3]): ![n-channel][4] ![p-channel][5] and the Wikipedia figure on [MOSFET functioning][6], and you'll see the body-source connection. [1]: http://www.ece.nmsu.edu/vlsi/EE221-Sec5-1.pdf [2]: http://people.seas.harvard.edu/~jones/es154/lectures/lecture_4/mosfet/mosfet_comments.html [3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOSFET#Circuit_symbols [4]: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/IGFET_N-Ch_Enh_Labelled.svg/80px-IGFET_N-Ch_Enh_Labelled.svg.png [5]: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/IGFET_P-Ch_Enh_Labelled.svg/80px-IGFET_P-Ch_Enh_Labelled.svg.png [6]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MOSFET_functioning.svg