Basic Computer
55 Questions
Basic Computer MCQs — Practice & Prepare
✅ Correct answer: Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage designed the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine in the 19th century, the first mechanical designs for a general-purpose programmable computer, which is why he is called the Father of Computer.
✅ Correct answer: Vacuum Tubes and Valves
First-generation computers (1940s-1950s) relied on vacuum tubes and valves to perform switching and amplification, which made them huge, power-hungry, and hot.
✅ Correct answer: Vacuum Tubes and Valves
Vacuum tubes and valves were the core switching and amplifying components of first-generation computers, before transistors replaced them in the second generation.
✅ Correct answer: Special purpose computers
Most first-generation computers, like the ENIAC, were built to perform one narrow task (such as ballistics calculations), making them special-purpose rather than general-purpose machines.
✅ Correct answer: IBM 1401
The IBM 1401 was a second-generation (transistor-based) computer, so it does not belong to the first generation like the ENIAC or UNIVAC.
✅ Correct answer: Lee de Forest
American inventor Lee de Forest invented the triode vacuum tube in 1906, which became the key switching component of first-generation computers.
✅ Correct answer: First Generation
First-generation computers, built with bulky vacuum tubes, were physically enormous — often filling entire rooms.
✅ Correct answer: EDSAC
EDSAC (1949) was one of the earliest first-generation, vacuum-tube-based stored-program computers.
✅ Correct answer: First
First-generation, vacuum-tube-based computers were extremely costly to run and maintain, due to high power consumption, cooling needs, and frequent tube failures.
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IBM 1401 is
✅ Correct answer: First Generation Computer
The IBM 1401, launched in 1959, was built with transistors, placing it firmly in the second generation of computers.
✅ Correct answer: Mark I
The Harvard Mark I, completed in 1944, is considered by many historians to be the first large-scale automatic computer in the world.
✅ Correct answer: his concept of input, mill and output
Babbage is called the father of modern computers largely because of his concept of input, processing ('mill'), and output — the same basic structure modern computers still follow.
✅ Correct answer: Transistor
Second-generation computers (1956-1965) replaced vacuum tubes with transistors, making machines smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient.
✅ Correct answer: Lee de Forest
Lee de Forest is known for inventing the vacuum tube, not the transistor; John Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter Brattain jointly invented the transistor at Bell Labs in 1947.
✅ Correct answer: second
Printers began to be commonly used with second-generation (transistor-based) computers, as output needs grew beyond simple displays.
✅ Correct answer: 1956 to 1965
Second-generation, transistor-based computers were developed and used roughly between 1956 and 1965.
✅ Correct answer: 1948
The transistor was invented in 1947 at Bell Labs by John Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter Brattain, though it took a year to formally announce, often dated to 1948.
✅ Correct answer: IC
Third-generation computers (1965-1971) were built using Integrated Circuits (ICs), replacing the discrete transistors of the second generation.
✅ Correct answer: IBM 1401
The IBM 1401 is a second-generation (transistor-based) computer, so it does not fit alongside third-generation, IC-based machines like the IBM 360 or PDP-8.
✅ Correct answer: Third generation
Third-generation computers (1965-1971) replaced individual transistors with Integrated Circuits (ICs), packing many transistors onto a single silicon chip.