Moore's law facts for kids

Moore's law is a special idea about how computers and other electronics get better over time. It says that the number of tiny switches, called transistors, that can fit on a computer chip (an integrated circuit) roughly doubles every two years. Imagine fitting twice as many tiny parts into the same space!

This idea is named after Gordon Moore, one of the people who started the company Intel. He wrote about this trend in 1965. He noticed that the number of parts on chips had been doubling every year since 1958, and he thought this would keep happening for at least ten more years. It turned out he was very right, and this trend has continued for over 50 years!

Moore's law helps companies that make computer chips plan for the future. It sets goals for their research and development teams.

This chart shows how the number of transistors in computer chips has grown over time, doubling about every two years.

Look at the big computer from 1982 next to a small iPhone from 2007. The old computer was much bigger, heavier, and slower, but it cost more too! This shows how much technology has improved.

What is Moore's Law?

Moore's law is a prediction about how computer chips get more powerful. It's not a scientific law like gravity, but more like a very accurate observation. It says that the number of transistors on a chip doubles about every two years. Transistors are like tiny on/off switches that make computers work. More transistors mean a chip can do more things and work faster.

An executive from Intel, David House, once said the doubling period was closer to 18 months. He meant that the overall performance of chips (how fast they work and how much they can do) would double in that time. This is because chips not only get more transistors, but those transistors also get faster.

Who is Gordon Moore?

The law is named after Gordon Moore, who helped start the famous computer chip company, Intel. In 1965, he wrote a paper where he shared his observation. He saw that the number of parts on integrated circuits had doubled every year since they were invented in 1958. He then made a smart guess that this amazing growth would continue for at least another decade. His guess was incredibly accurate!

Why is Moore's Law Important?

The idea behind Moore's law has had a huge impact on our lives. Many digital devices we use every day rely on this trend. For example:

• Processing speed: How fast your computer or phone can think.
• Memory capacity: How much information your devices can store.
• Sensors: Like the ones in your phone that detect light or movement.
• Digital cameras: The number and size of pixels in cameras, which makes pictures clearer.

All these things have gotten much better and cheaper at an amazing speed, thanks to more and more transistors fitting on chips. This constant improvement has made digital electronics a huge part of the world's economy. Moore's law has truly driven many technological and social changes since the late 1900s and early 2000s.

Is Moore's Law Still True?

This trend of technology getting better and better has lasted for more than 50 years. However, in 2015, Intel said that the speed of improvement has started to slow down a bit. Brian Krzanich, who was the CEO of Intel at the time, said that the doubling of chip performance was now happening closer to every two and a half years, instead of every two years. Even with this slight slowdown, the progress in technology is still very impressive!

Images for kids

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  A semi-log plot of transistor counts for microprocessors against dates of introduction, nearly doubling every two years.

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  Gordon Moore in 2004

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  An Osborne Executive portable computer, from 1982, with a Zilog Z80 4 MHz CPU, and a 2007 Apple iPhone with a 412 MHz ARM11 CPU; the Executive has 100 times the weight, almost 500 times the volume, approximately 10 times the inflation adjusted cost, and 1/103rd the clock frequency of the smartphone.

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  The trend of MOSFET scaling for NAND flash memory allows the doubling of floating-gate MOSFET components manufactured in the same wafer area in less than 18 months.

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  A simulation of electron density as gate voltage (Vg) varies in a nanowire MOSFET. The threshold voltage is around 0.45 V. Nanowire MOSFETs lie toward the end of the ITRS road map for scaling devices below 10 nm gate lengths.

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  Scanning probe microscopy image of graphene in its hexagonal lattice structure

See also

In Spanish: Ley de Moore para niños