Chapter 6 Review Question Solutions
\n1. TRUE or FALSE? The first programmable machine was a mechanical calculator
\ndesigned by Charles Babbage.
\nFALSE
\n2. TRUE or FALSE? Ada Byron is generally acknowledged as the world\u2019s first
\nprogrammer, due to her work on Babbage\u2019s Analytical Engine.
\nTRUE
\n3. TRUE or FALSE? An electromagnetic relay is a mechanical switch that can be used to
\ncontrol the flow of electricity through a wire.
\nTRUE
\n4. TRUE or FALSE? Vacuum tubes, as they have no moving parts, enable the switching of
\nelectrical signals at speeds far exceeding those of relays.
\nTRUE
\n5. TRUE or FALSE? Although they were large and expensive by today\u2019s standards, early
\ncomputers such as the MARK I and ENIAC were comparable in performance (memory
\ncapacity and processing speed) to modern desktop computers.
\nFALSE
\n6. TRUE or FALSE? Because transistors were smaller and produced less heat than vacuum
\ntubes, they allowed for the design of smaller and faster computers.
\nTRUE
\n7. TRUE or FALSE? A microprocessor is a special-purpose computer that is used to control
\nscientific machinery.
\nFALSE
\n6.2
\n8. TRUE or FALSE? Moore\u2019s Law states that the number of transistors that can be
\nmanufactured on a computer chip doubles every 12 to 18 months.
\nTRUE
\n9. TRUE or FALSE? The first personal computer was the IBM PC, which first hit the
\nmarket in 1980.
\nFALSE
\n10. TRUE or FALSE? Many Web servers improve performance by utilizing parallel
\nprocessing, in which multiple processors run simultaneously to handle page requests.
\nTRUE
\n11. Mechanical calculators, such as those designed by Pascal and Leibniz, were first
\ndeveloped in the 1600s. However, they were not widely used in businesses and
\nlaboratories until the 1800s. Why was this the case?
\nEarly calculators were difficult to build, owing to the precision required in making and
\nassembling all the interlocking pieces. It wasn\u2019t until the early 1800s, when
\nmanufacturing methods improved to the point where mass production was possible, that
\nmechanical calculators became commonplace in businesses and laboratories.
\n12. Jacquard’s loom, although unrelated to computing, influenced the development of modern
\ncomputing devices. What design features of that machine are relevant to modern
\ncomputer architectures?
\nJacquard\u2019s loom, which used metal cards with holes punched into them to specify the
\nweaving pattern, was the first programmable device. By changing the program (i.e., the
\ncards), the same loom could be used to produce different patterns. The idea of a
\nprogrammable machine was later adopted by Babbage for his Analytical Engine and
\neventually led to modern, programmable computers. The use of punch cards for
\nrepresenting data was also adopted by Babbage and early computer designers.
\n13. What advantages did vacuum tubes provide over electromagnetic relays? What were the
\ndisadvantages of vacuum tubes?
\nSince vacuum tubes had no moving parts, they enabled the switching of electrical signals
\nat speeds far exceeding those of relays. However, vacuum tubes were expensive,
\nrequired significant power, and tended to burn out frequently.
\n14. As it did with many technologies, World War II greatly influenced the development of
\ncomputers? In what ways did the war effort contribute to the evolution of computer
\n6.3
\ntechnology? In what ways did the need for secrecy during the war hinder computer
\ndevelopment?
\nDefense related projects provided funding for early computer research and development,
\nincluding the COLOSSUS for use in code breaking and ENIAC for computing ballistic
\ntables. The work of Zuse in Nazi Germany was lost during the war, and the very
\nexistence of the COLOSSUS was top secret for decades after the war.
\n15. What features of Babbage\u2019s Analytical Engine did von Neumann incorporate into his
\narchitecture? Why did it take over a century for Babbage\u2019s vision of a general-purpose,
\nprogrammable computer to be realized?
\nThe von Neumann architecture takes its basic design elements from Babbage’s Analytical
\nEngine (although the technologies intended to implement the designs were significantly
\ndifferent). Babbage’s store corresponds to memory, his mill corresponds to the CPU, and
\nhis input\/output devices (punch cards and paper tape) were not all that different from I\/O
\ndevices in von Neumann’s time. The fact that Babbage’s machine was programmable,
\nwith the mill executing programming instructions to perform different tasks, also mirrors
\nthe behavior of von Neumann’s architecture. In many ways, Babbage’s vision was ahead
\nof its time, as the technology of his day (steam power, factory production, \u2026) was not
\ncapable of building the intricate machinery require to complete his design.
\n16. It was claimed that the ENIAC was programmable, but programming it to perform a
\ndifferent task required rewiring and reconfiguring the physical components of the
\nmachine. Describe how the adoption of the von Neumann architecture allowed for
\nsubsequent machines to be more easily programmed to perform different tasks.
\nThe von Neumann architecture allowed for programs to be stored in memory along with
\ndata, and executed by the CPU. Thus, the same machine could perform different tasks
\nsimply by loading a different program into memory and executing it.
\n17. What is a transistor, and how did the introduction of transistors lead to faster and cheaper
\ncomputers? What other effects did transistors have on modern technology and society?
\nA transistor is a piece of silicon whose conductivity can be turned on and off using an
\nelectric current. Since transistors were smaller, cheaper, more reliable, and more energyefficient
\nthan vacuum tubes, they allowed for the production of more powerful yet
\ninexpensive computers.
\n18. What does the acronym VLSI stand for? How did the development of VLSI technology
\ncontribute to the personal computer revolution of the late 1970s?
\nVery Large Scale Integration (VLSI) refers to the ability to manufacture hundreds of
\nthousands or even millions of transistors on an IC chip. The ability to mass-produce
\ncomputer chips that contained all of the circuitry necessary to perform tasks (e.g.,
\n6.4
\nmicroprocessors, RAM chips) allowed for the production of affordable, desktop
\ncomputers.
\n19. What was the first personal computer and when was it first marketed? How was this
\nproduct different from today\u2019s PCs?
\nThe first personal computer (PC), the MITS Altair 8800, was marketed in 1975. The
\nAltair was a computer kit that required assembly by the user, and had no keyboard, no
\nmonitor, and no permanent storage. The user entered instructions directly by flipping
\nswitches on the console and viewed output as blinking lights.
\n20. Describe two innovations introduced by Apple Computer in the late 1970s and early
\n1980s.
\nThe Apple II, released in 1977, was the first preassembled personal computer that
\nincluded a keyboard, color monitor, sound, and graphics. The Apple Macintosh, released
\nin 1984, introduced the now familiar graphical user interface of windows, icons, pulldown
\nmenus, and a mouse pointer.
\n21. Each generation of computers resulted in machines that were cheaper, faster, and thus
\naccessible to more people. How did this trend affect the development of programming
\nlanguages?
\nAs computers became cheaper and more accessible to companies and individuals, it was
\nnecessary to simplify their use so that people other than engineers could manage them.
\nAssembly languages were the first step in making programming easier, followed by highlevel
\nlanguages that allowed non-technical people to control computer execution.
\n22. Two of the technological advances described in this chapter were so influential that they
\nearned their inventors a Nobel Prize in Physics. Identify the inventions and inventors.
\nJohn Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley received the 1956 Nobel Prize in
\nPhysics for their invention of the transistor. Jack Kilby received the 2000 Nobel Prize in
\nPhysics for his work on the development of integrated circuits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chapter 6 Review Question Solutions 1. TRUE or FALSE? The first programmable machine was a mechanical calculator designed by Charles Babbage. FALSE 2. TRUE or FALSE? Ada Byron is generally acknowledged as the world\u2019s first programmer, due to her work on Babbage\u2019s Analytical Engine. TRUE 3. TRUE or FALSE? An electromagnetic relay is a mechanical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":274,"featured_media":0,"parent":558,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/compcog15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/828"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/compcog15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/compcog15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/compcog15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/274"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/compcog15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/compcog15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/828\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/compcog15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/compcog15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}