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MYP Year III Mathematics Unit 2 GRASPS Task

The document outlines a GRASPS task that involves analyzing the development and application of microchips using large and small numbers. The role is a microchip design analyst presenting information to a global audience. The task involves predicting transistor counts using Moore's Law, analyzing current chip technology including smartphone and supercomputer components, and designing your own hypothetical microchip with calculations of transistor counts and costs.

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Hamdan mohammed
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167 views4 pages

MYP Year III Mathematics Unit 2 GRASPS Task

The document outlines a GRASPS task that involves analyzing the development and application of microchips using large and small numbers. The role is a microchip design analyst presenting information to a global audience. The task involves predicting transistor counts using Moore's Law, analyzing current chip technology including smartphone and supercomputer components, and designing your own hypothetical microchip with calculations of transistor counts and costs.

Uploaded by

Hamdan mohammed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Unit 2 GRASPS Task

Goal
Analyze the development and application of the microchip using very large and very
small numbers.

Role
Microchip design analyst.

Audience
People in the class representing the people around the world.

Situation
Moore’s Law will help you predict the number of transistors on a chip from its original
invention. You will go on to analyze current developments in microchip technology, all by
using numbers, in different forms.

Product
Your task culminates with designing your own chip, supported by calculations and
headlines to announce to the world, your own technology.

Summative Assessment:

Microchip technology
How is it possible to surf the internet? How can a smartphone control so many devices?
How does a pacemaker help control a heart’s contractions? At the core of all of these is a
single device called a transistor. The transistor was invented in 1945 in Bell Labs
and the inventors had little idea how much it would revolutionize our way of life. In this
task, you will analyze the growth of transistor technology and the development of the
microprocessor chip. You will present your work for each part in a single report. Show
your working in each section. Perform all your calculations and write all your answers
using scientific notation.
Part 1 – Moore’s law
Gordon Moore, one of the founders of Intel, helped build a company that produces
processors for computer manufacturers. Processors, or microprocessors, are small chips
inside devices such as smartphones and computers that receive input and produce output
using transistors. In what has been named Moore’s law, Moore predicted that the number
of transistors that would fit on a chip would double every two years.
a. If the very first chip had four transistors, use Moore’s law to calculate the
number of transistors on a chip every two years over the next 10 years. Copy and
complete this table, writing your answers as powers of 2.

b. If there were four transistors on a chip in 1965, predict the number of transistors
on a chip in the year 2015. Write your answer both as a number in expanded form and in
scientific notation.

c. During a speech in 2014, one of Intel’s vice presidents said that, by 2026, the
company would make a processor with as many transistors as there are neurons in a
human brain. If there are 1.0 ×10 11 ¿(1.0 × 1011 ) neurons in the human brain, would
Moore’s law agree with the vice president’s statement?

Part 2 – Chip technology


Transistors can perform two functions. They can amplify current so that an input current
is greatly increased as it passes through the transistor. Because of this, transistors were
originally used to develop hearing aids. They can also act as switches, being either “on”
or “off”. This allows the transistor to store two different numbers, either a 0 (off) or a 1
(on). Originally, vacuum tubes
were used as switches, but these were large and required a lot of power.
a. Smartphones have chips in them that can contain 3.3 billion transistors. If each
transistor weighs 5.1 × 10−23 grams, find the total mass of the transistors in a smartphone.
b. If each chip has a length of 35 nanometers (nm), how many would you need to
circle the Earth, which has a radius of 6371km?
c. Supercomputers have been developed that are much larger and can perform
many more calculations than ordinary desktop or laptop computers. One such
supercomputer, the Titan, has 4.485 × 1010 transistors in its central processing unit (CPU)
and another 1.3268 × 1011 transistor in its graphics processing unit (GPU). Find the total
number of transistors in the Titan. Show your working and give your answers in standard
form.
d. Intel estimates that about 12 quintillion transistors are shipped around the globe
each year. If that represents 10000 times the number of ants on the planet, find the
number of ants on Earth.

Performance Task:
Part 3 – Design your own
What if you could design your own processor? How small would you make it? How
many transistors could you fit on it? The size of transistors has decreased dramatically
since they were first invented. Assume you will use transistors that are approximately
rectangular and measure 35nm by 14nm.
a. Select a chip size that sounds impressive (e.g. a fingernail). Find its area. (You
may choose to research the area or calculate it after taking measurements.)
b. Find the number of transistors that you will be able to fit on your chosen area.
c. If transistors cost $0.000000003 USD each, find the cost of the transistors on
your chip.
d. Create a headline to announce your technology to the world.
e. Write a newspaper article about your invention and create a snazzy name for
your chip. Your article must include the following:

• Headline – usually only a few words. The purpose is to attract the interest of the reader
by giving a hint as to what the article is about in a concise way.
• By-line – the author of the article.
• Introduction – sets the scene and summarizes the main points of the article: who, what,
when, where.
• Body – provides more detail about the event, in particular it answers the questions how
and why.
• Quotes – what a person (such as an eyewitness or an expert) has said about the
invention. These will be in speech marks.
• Photograph and caption – include a drawing or photograph of your invention as well as
a caption that describes what is in the photo.
• Answers to these questions – What does it take to make the next great discovery? Are
great discoveries planned or accidental?

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