Various exhibits describe how computer chips are made and used. Learn to distinguish a microprocessor from memory and embedded control chips. See how chips are constructed, layer upon layer, on wafers of silicon, the primary component of ordinary beach sand. A microprocessor, the size of a dime, is enlarged to a ten-foot square. Light patterns and animated voices are used to explain the chip's main functional areas and how it processes information.
Transistors are the building blocks of the microprocessor, which is the brain of the computer.
Learn how a transistor is constructed on a chip, and how it controls the flow of digital information in a computer. Learn how memory technology uses transistors to store digital information. Use digital coding to spell your own name. Trace the history of microprocessors. Discover how they've evolved, who designs them and how they have affected the lives of so many, from children to astronauts to computer animation specialists.