1. EXTERNAL COMPONENTS
Silicon
Copper
Copper being used in the manufacturing of computers acts as a excellent conductor of electricity.and also works well with the micro chips, motherboard and associated wiring.
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It works well with the micro chips, motherboard and associated wiring. Many of the microchips and circuits are made out of copper.
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Despite the varying compositions of these elements, they have always been apart of the external make-up of hardware.
Plastic
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Plastics are very ubiquitous and are present in quite a few components of computer systems. Currently, plastics makes up mouse interfaces, keyboards, hardware houses and computer housings just to name a few. Basically every part of the computer is not silicon and metal its plastic based. Thermoplastic is the best plastic used for computer manufacturing due its strength, rigidity and toughness across a wide range of temperatures making it best fit for computers.
2. INTERNAL COMPONENTS
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Prior to the transistor first generation computers used vacuum tubes. A transistor is a semiconductor device comprised of three terminals used to connect to an external circuit. The transistor is used mainly in the amplification of electrical power. Vacuum tubes, also known as electron tubes, are also used in the amplification of power but these devices were more bulky, unreliable and released allot of heat. The transistor lead to the development of the integrated circuit(IC). This is a single chip comprised of billions of transistors and other electronic components.
Some Advantages and Dis-advantages of Vacuum Tubes and Transistors
Vacuum Tubes
-Advantages
Transistors
-Advantages
Some Advantages and Dis-advantages of Vacuum Tubes and Transistors
Vacuum Tubes
-Advantages
- Can easily be replaced by the user
- Tolerance of large overloads and voltage spikes.
- Large operating voltage required
- Made of glass which is more fragile than metal transistors
- More Bulky, hence it cannot be used in the making of portable products
- Large power consumption
- High cost
Transistors
-Advantages
- Low Cost
- Can operate on low voltages
- Can be combined with millions on a single Die
- More physical ruggedness
- Not easily replaced by user, hence there's more difficulty in maintenance
- Tendency toward higher distortion than tubes.
- Large amount of negative feedback required for low distortion
- More complex circuits
- The devices capacitance tend to vary greatly with applied volage.