Inglês

Read the text below and answer questions 41, 42

and 43.

INTEGRATED CIRCUIT

In electronics, an integrated circuit (also known as IC,

microcircuit, microchip, silicon chip, or chip) is a

miniaturized electronic circuit (consisting mainly of

semiconductor devices, as well as passive

components) that has been manufactured in the

surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material.

Integrated circuits are used in almost all electronic

equipment in use today and have revolutionized the

world of electronics.

A hybrid integrated circuit is a miniaturized electronic

circuit constructed of individual semiconductor

devices, as well as passive components, bonded to a

substrate or circuit board.

Integrated circuits were made possible by

experimental discoveries which showed that

semiconductor devices could perform the functions of

vacuum tubes, and by mid-20th-century technology

advancements in semiconductor device fabrication.

The integration of large numbers of tiny transistors

into a small chip was an enormous improvement over

the manual assembly of circuits using electronic

components. The integrated circuit's mass production

capability, reliability, and building-block approach to

circuit design ensured the rapid adoption of

standardized ICs in place of designs using discrete

transistors.

There are two main advantages of ICs over discrete

circuits: cost and performance. Cost is low because

the chips, with all their components, are printed as a

unit by photolithography and not constructed one

transistor at a time. Furthermore, much less material

is used to construct a circuit as a packaged IC die

than as a discrete circuit. Performance is high since

the components switch quickly and consume little

power (compared to their discrete counterparts)

because the components are small and close

together. As of 2006, chip areas range from a few

square millimeters to around 350 mm2, with up to 1

million transistors per mm2.

Fonte: http://en.wikipedia.org/

What are the two main advantages of IC’s over discrete circuits? Choose the correct alternative.