What Is Eniac?

This updated guide examines What Is Eniac? and organizes the essential facts, background, and practical takeaways in clear American English.

What is ENIAC?

Short for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, ENIAC is the first electronic computer used for general purposes, such as solving numerical problems. It was invented by John Presper Eckert and John Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania, to serve the US Army ballistic research laboratory.

ENIAC historic milestones

Construction of this machine began in 1943 and it was officially completed in 1946. Although not completed until the end of World War II, ENIAC helped a lot in the fight against Nazi Germany..

In 1953, the Burroughs Group built magnetic core memory to add to ENIAC. By 1956, ENIAC occupied an area of about 167m² and included nearly 20,000 vacuum tubes, 1,500 relays, 10,000 capacitors and 70,000 resistors. The system uses 200 kilowatts of electricity, weighs more than 30 tons and costs about $ 487,000.

The image above is of ENIAC. The wires, switches and components are all part of ENIAC with two operating groups helping to run the machine. ENIAC is currently on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC In 1996, the US Postal Service issued a new stamp to celebrate ENIAC's 50th birthday.

How many transistors does ENIAC have?

The answer is 0. ENIAC used vacuum tubes and did not use transistors (transistors) because they were not invented.