Basic Computer: Generations of Computers MCQ - Practice Questions with Answers

Second-generation computers replaced vacuum tubes with transistors. This made computers smaller, faster, more reliable, and less heat-producing than first-generation machines. The question asks for the correct description of the second generation, so the key cue is the use of transistors. Vacuum tubes belong to the first generation, microprocessors to the fourth, and artificial-intelligence-oriented systems to the fifth-generation concept. Hence option B is correct.

First-generation computers, such as ENIAC and UNIVAC, used vacuum tubes as their main electronic component. The clue in the question is “first-generation”, which points to large, costly machines that produced much heat and consumed high power. Transistors came later in the second generation, integrated circuits in the third, and microprocessors in the fourth. Therefore, for the first generation, the defensible answer is vacuum tubes.

First-generation computers used vacuum tubes as the main electronic component and magnetic drums for memory. This matches the features named in the question. Second-generation computers replaced vacuum tubes with transistors, making them smaller and more reliable. Third-generation computers used integrated circuits, while fourth-generation computers are associated with microprocessors and very large-scale integration. Since the question specifically combines vacuum-tube circuitry with magnetic-drum memory, the first generation is the correct generation, and the later generations describe different hardware technologies.

The use of Integrated Circuits began with the third generation of computers. First-generation computers used vacuum tubes, which made machines large, hot and power-hungry. Second-generation computers moved to transistors, improving size and reliability but not yet using ICs as the core technology. Third-generation systems adopted Integrated Circuits, allowing more compact, faster and more reliable computers. Fourth-generation computers are associated mainly with microprocessors and very large-scale integration, which came after IC-based third-generation machines.

Third-generation computers are identified by the use of integrated circuits. An integrated circuit placed many components on a small chip, so computers became smaller, faster, cheaper to operate and more reliable than the earlier transistor-based second-generation machines. The stem asks whether the two statements are correct. Statement 1 gives the defining technology, and Statement 2 gives the practical improvement that followed from it. Therefore, both statements are correct.