Computers

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are in use today, analog and
digital, although the term computer is often used to mean only the digital type.
Everything that a digital computer does is based on one operation the ability to
determine if a switch, or gate is open or closed. That is, the computer can
recognize only two states in any of its microscopic circuits on or off, high
voltage or low voltage, or—in the case of numbers—0 or 1. The speed at which the
computer performs this simple act, however, is what makes it a marvel of modern
technology. Computer speeds are measured in megaHertz, or millions of cycles per
second. A computer with a "clock speed" of 10 mHz—a fairly representative speed
for a microcomputer—is capable of executing 10 million discrete operations each
second. Business microcomputers can perform 15 to 40 million operations per
second, and supercomputers used in research and defense applications attain
speeds of billions of cycles per second. Digital computer speed and calculating
power are ...

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