BTT 1O1 Computer Basics

Study Guide for The Journey Inside On-Line

Lessons

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/education/k12/the-journey-inside/explore-the-curriculum/circuits-and-
switches.html

Unit 2 Circuits and Switches

Watch the Video

Lesson 1: What is Electricity?

1. Label the parts on an atom?

2. What is an electron? Explain when electrons will start flowing (electric current).

An electron is a negatively charged particle in an atom. Everything (you, your desk, a cheese sandwich) is made of atoms.
These atoms contain electrons, particles with a tiny negative electric charge. In some materials, electrons can jump from
atom to atom. But to start the electrons jumping, there needs to be an imbalance. There needs to be more electrons at one
end of the conductor than at the other.

Lesson 2: Plumbed for Electricity

Do Activity 1: Is Your House Plumbed For Electricity? Switches ?

Ever wonder why electricity is always there waiting in the wire for you to use? A good way to understand
it is to compare household electricity to household plumbing. Turn a faucet handle and out pours the
water. Why? Because there is:

A supply of water somewhere

A pipe to carry the water

A pressure difference between the water supply and your faucet

A faucet to turn the water on and off

Compare this to how you get electricity to a lamp. In this case, there is:

A power plant to supply moving electrons

Wire to conduct the moving electrons

 More moving electrons at the power plant than in your lamp

A switch to turn the current on and off

Lesson 4: The Flashlight

1. What are the four parts of a circuit ?

Source, load wire,switch

Lesson 10: Non-mechanical Switches - Transistors

1. What is the name of the semiconductor material (used to create computer

chips), which is a naturally poor conductor that could be easily modified to
conduct electricity under certain conditions? You can see in the diagram that two terminalsthe
source (where current goes in) and the drain (where current goes out)are negatively charged. They are made of n-type
silicon ("n" for negative). Both terminals sit on a positively charged well of silicon connected to the gate terminal. The
well silicon is called p-type silicon ("p" for positive). When a charge is applied to the gate terminal, electrons in the p
silicon are drawn to the space between the source and drain terminals and form an electron channel. Electrons now flow
from the source to the drain. In this position, the transistor is on. Remove the charge from the gate terminal and the
transistor returns to its off state.

2. What is a transistor?

a semiconductor device with three connections, capable of amplification in addition to

rectification.

3. What is the difference between a mechanical switch and a non-mechanical

switch?

Computers use switches to represent information such as numbers and letters. These are more
complicated than the switch you use to turn on a light. In fact, just representing a single number requires
eight switches.

Mechanical switches are too slow and bulky to handle all the processing required to even do something
as simple as write an email. To make computers work, inventors had to make a nonmechanical switcha
super-fast switch with no moving parts.

What was needed was a switch that could be turned on and off by electricity. This required finding a
semiconductor, a naturally poor conductor that could be easily modified to conduct electricity under
certain conditions.

The best material for the job turned out to be silicon, an abundant nonmetallic element. Using silicon as a
poor conductor, the transistor was invented and the digital age became possible
Try the following Quiz. Record your score.
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/cpu-quiz.htm