Inside the ComputerElectronics

The Transistor

A switch with no moving parts, and your phone has billions

Your phone holds billions of tiny switches, and not one of them moves. How do you flip a switch with no moving parts?

You'll find out

  • What computers used before chips
  • What two physicists built in 1947
  • How small the switches have become

Why it matters

Every app, photo and message is billions of these switches flipping. Knowing one explains the whole machine.

About 4 min7 interactive slides · 5 questionsLesson 194 · Zone 22

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