Short Circuits

When was the transistor invented?

1947

How do you think the author feels about the future of transistors and nanotechnology?

Hopeful and excited.

Choose the word to complete the sentence: If scientists can figure out how to etch transistors onto graphene, _________ they will be able to create much smaller and faster computer chips.

then

What does the author mean by the use of the word "soup"?

Not the soup we eat! It refers to getting the right mixture of materials and liquids.

Read the following sentence and answer the question: "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, consider the amazing shrinking transistor! Watch it contract a million times until it becomes a tiny dot visible only under a powerful microscope!" What does the word contract mean?

Shrink

How are today's transistors different from the first ones that were invented?

They are much smaller. The original ones were about the size of an adults fingernail, and now they cannot be seen by the naked eye.

This passage is mostly about....

Transistors

How does the author describe the changes transistors have undergone?

Transistors have shrunk but increased in usefulness.