Which electronic device was used in Second Generation Computers?
- (a)Vacuum tubes
- (b)VLSI
- (c)Transistors
- (d)None of the above
Correct — C, Transistors. Computers are classified into generations by their core electronic switching component: first-generation computers used vacuum tubes, and second-generation computers (roughly the late 1950s to mid-1960s) replaced them with transistors, which were smaller, faster, more reliable, and generated far less heat.
- (a)Vacuum tubes — The defining component of FIRST-generation computers, not the second generation.
- (b)VLSI — Very Large Scale Integration chips define the FOURTH/fifth generation of computers (microprocessors), a much later era than the second generation.
- (d)None of the above — Incorrect — transistors is a valid, correctly-listed option.
Computer generations are classified by the dominant electronic technology of the era: first generation (vacuum tubes), second generation (transistors), third generation (integrated circuits), and fourth/fifth generation (microprocessors built on VLSI/ULSI chips, with AI-based systems associated with the fifth).
This is a direct recall question testing the standard generation-to-component table; the distractors are simply the defining components of the adjacent (first and fourth/fifth) generations, so precision about which component belongs to which generation is what is being tested.
- First-generation computers: vacuum tubes
- Second-generation computers: transistors — smaller, faster, more reliable, less heat than vacuum tubes
- Third-generation computers: integrated circuits (ICs)
- Fourth/fifth-generation computers: microprocessors on VLSI/ULSI chips
Each generation of computers is defined by its core electronic component — transistors mark the second generation.
- Mixing up which component belongs to which generation (vacuum tube vs transistor vs IC vs VLSI)
- Assuming 'second generation' automatically means the most recent/advanced technology
MPPSC/UPSC computer-awareness sections frequently ask 'which component/device was used in generation X of computers' as a direct table-recall question.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Integrated Circuits (ICs) were the defining electronic component of which generation of computers?
- (a)First generation
- (b)Second generation
- (c)Third generation
- (d)Fourth generation
Answer(c) Third generation.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The shift from vacuum tubes to transistors, marking the move from first- to second-generation computers, primarily resulted in:
- (a)Larger, bulkier machines
- (b)Smaller size, greater reliability, and less heat generation
- (c)No significant change in performance
- (d)Higher cost and slower processing
Answer(b) Smaller size, greater reliability, and less heat generation.