Physics - Fizik

A COMPUTER IS AN ELECTRONIC MACHINE that manipulates, changes and processes information, or data, of all kinds - not only numbers but also words, patterns, pictures, animations, sounds and so on. The data is processed called a program, which tells the computer what to do. Inside a computer, the program according to a sequence of instructions and data are in digital form, as patterns of tiny electrical signals that pass around the many circuits and microchips. Computers can deal with vast amounts of information in a very short time. For example, a supercomputer can work out all the consequences of more than 200 million chess moves every second.

Supercomputers A supercomputer must work so fast that its main processing and memory circuits are supercooled to many degrees below freezing. Supercooling reduces the resistance of the conductors in the electronic circuits.


In the 1830s English mathematician Charles Babbage (1792-1871) designed several kinds of programmable mechanical calculators. His machines used gearwheels to do the calculating and had more than 2,000 moving parts. Due to engineering and money problems, Babbage's machines were never finished at the time. But modern computers still use his basic ideas.