Colossus

In which year did they start creating the very first electronic digital computer?

• 1942

• 1943

• 1944

• 1945

What was the name given to the first digital computer?

• Colossus

• Magnificant

• Gigantic

• ENIAC

What was the name of the place where the first digital computer was created?

• Bletchley Park

• Clifton Park

• Park Avenue

• 1G4

What was the main role of the first digital computer?

• Playing Minecraft with friends

• Breaking the German codes during WW2.

• Word Processing each of the codes heard on the radio.

• Emailing the commands between countries.

Colossus used ‘valves’. What was the role of these valves?

• Powering up Colossus.

• Processing the messages being fed to it on punched paper tape.

• Inputting text onto a screen.

• Outputting the messages sent over the radio waves.

How many valves were used on each of the 10 Colossus machines?

• 300

• 2400

• 3500

• 4600

What were the two main problems caused by using the valves?

• Large and they took up a large amount of space.

• Thousands needed which were made of glass so broke easily.

• Loud when running causing staff deafness.

• Too bright when running causing staff blindness.

Many years later transistors were invented. How did transistors help in the development of new computers?

• They did the same job, but were smaller so more could be used.

• They are a lot quieter, which means using them doesn't cause hearing loss.

• They are a lot bigger so they could be used in most people's homes.

• They are a lot louder, so people know they are working.

Roughly how many transistors might you find on a modern laptop?

• 2

• 200

• 2 million

• 2 billion

What is the role of software?

• To tell the hardware what to do

• To tell the user what to do

• To tell the hard drive where to save

• To change the password to log in