How integrated circuits work!!!!
What is an integrated circuit? Photo: An integrated circuit from the inside. If you could lift the cover off a typical microchip like the one in the top photo (and you can't very easily—believe me, I've tried!), this is what you'd find inside. The integrated circuit is the tiny square in the center. Connections run out from it to the terminals (metal pins or legs) around the edge. When you hook up something to one of these terminals, you're actually connecting into the circuit itself. You can just about see the pattern of electronic components on the surface of the chip itself. Photo by courtesy of NASA Glenn Research Center (NASA-GRC) . Open up a television or a radio and you'll see it's built around a printed circuit board (PCB) : a bit like an electric street-map with small electronic components (such as resistors and capacitors ) in place of the buildings and printed copper connections linking the...