Technology
Microchips are involved in almost every aspect of life since they are present in basically all electronic devices, which have grown to such a massive prevalence that it's impossible to get away from them.
Microchips are everywhere, but how do they work? How can they be so small? The answers are quite amazing, and there's much more to learn about these fascinating little components. Here are four facts about microchips that you probably didn't know.
1. Transistors Run Things
The heart of a microchip is the transistor, or the transistors, more appropriately. There are literally hundreds of millions of transistors on each individual microchip, and the connections between those chips allow for high level calculations at a fast, efficient pace. Intel makes so many transistors that it can't accurately say how many it sells in a year, but they estimate the number to be 10 quintillion. That's a 10 with 18 zeroes after it, and that's just the production rate of a single company.Related articles
2. Abundant Material
Modern microchips are printed on silicon chips, which is where the 'chip' half of microchip comes from. This is not only convenient for the chip-making process itself, which companies like Streamline Circuits handle with ease thanks to the semiconducting nature of silicon, but it is also ideal for production costs. Silicon is the second most abundant element on the planet, second only to oxygen.3. Small & Fast
The newest age of transistors are built on the nanoscale, and they function at an exponentially faster rate for their smaller size. It has been estimated that as many as 30 million of these nanotransistors could fit on the head of a standard ink pen. With the extreme size difference between nanotransistors and human neurons, Intel believes they will be able to produce a single microchip with the same number of transistors as there are neurons in the brain by the year 2026.4. Moore's Law
This isn't actually a scientific law, but rather a sort of prophecy regarding the rate at which technology would improve once the transistor-based computer took over. Moore's Law basically says that the amount of transistors on a chip will double every two years. So far, that law has held for over 26 years.Microchips are only going to continue playing a huge part in society as the years progress. Chips will get smaller, and faster, and more energy efficient, and soon they will be able to do things we can't even imagine today!
| By Dixie Somers | Embed |
Author Bio - Dixie is a freelance writer who loves to write about business, finance and self improvement. She lives in Arizona with her husband and three beautiful daughters.
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