A vacuum tube is, reasonable enough, a sealed glass tube containing a vacuum in which are present several electronic elements: the cathode, anode, grid, and filament. When the cathode and anode are heated by the filament, and a voltage is applied across them, current flows between the cathode and anode. If a grid is inserted between them, the flow can be controlled by changing the grid between a positive and negative voltage. The grid voltage can be quite small, and the plate voltages can be quite high, thus providing an amplifying capability. More importantly for computers, switching the grid voltage causes the tube to act as a switch with respect to the plates. Thus, we have an electronically controlled switch that is much faster than a relay. A type of vacuum tube also served as a popular storage mechanism, the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT). Other memory devices used during the period include mercury or glass delay lines, and magnetic core memory. Vacuum tubes, however, are la...
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