Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
central processing unit
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images
circuit board Basic operation of the central processing unit.
Quizzes
computer chip. computer. Hand holding computer chip. Central processing unit (CPU). history and society, science and technology, microchip, microprocessor motherboard computer Circuit Board
Computers and Technology Quiz
Technician operates the system console on the new UNIVAC 1100/83 computer at the Fleet Analysis Center, Corona Annex, Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach, CA. June 1, 1981. Univac magnetic tape drivers or readers in background. Universal Automatic Computer
Computers and Operating Systems
Read Next
President Richard M. Nixon smiles and gives the victory sign as he boards the White House helicopter after his resignation on August 9, 1974 in Washington, D.C.
Timeline of the 1970s
Discover
Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army
8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century
Title: Senate Square, St. Petersburg, December 14, 1825: repression of the troop mutiny - watercolor by Carl Ivanovitch Kollman, 1825 depicts Decembrist uprising clashing with cavalry, with spectators watching. (new style December 26, 1825) Europe. Saint
8 of the Largest Empires in History
Santa Claus flying in his sleigh, christmas, reindeer
Was Santa Claus a Real Person?
Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1855), founder of the house of Rothschild; lithograph by Friedrich Lieder, c. 1830.
Where Do Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories About the Rothschild Family Come From?
Rural Irish landscape, Sligo, Ireland.
Why Is Ireland Two Countries?
A human Inuit skull in a stone chambered cairn in Ilulissat in Greenland. These ancient graves are pre christian and are at least 2000
14 Tough Questions Answered
Super Typhoon Noru over the western tropical Pacific Ocean as observed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA Aqua satellite July 31 2017
What Is the Difference Between a Typhoon and a Super Typhoon?

central processing unit: Facts & Related Content

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/facts/central-processing-unit
Written and fact-checked by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As CPU

Photos

circuit board
Basic operation of the central processing unit.
See All Images →

Related Topics and References

Topics

Related Quizzes and Features

Quiz
computer chip. computer. Hand holding computer chip. Central processing unit (CPU). history and society, science and technology, microchip, microprocessor motherboard computer Circuit Board
Computers and Technology Quiz
Technician operates the system console on the new UNIVAC 1100/83 computer at the Fleet Analysis Center, Corona Annex, Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach, CA. June 1, 1981. Univac magnetic tape drivers or readers in background. Universal Automatic Computer
Computers and Operating Systems