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Analog computers are also called continuous computers, as there are no discontinuities in their computations. A mechanical analog computer might represent variables by rotation rate of shafts, any given shaft can rotate at any speed and will smoothly accelerate or decelerate its rotation as the calculation proceeds. An electronic analog computer might represent variables by voltages, say any voltage between -20VDC and +20VDC with voltages smoothly varying as the calculation proceeds.

  • Bush differential analyzer at MIT, electromechanical, 1929.
  • Norden bombsight, electromechanical, 1930s through 1960s (used in WW2, Korea, and Vietnam!).
  • Various commercial electronic differential analyzers sold from 1950s through 1970s, electronic.
  • Murray/Walker simultaneous equation solver, electronic, 1949.
  • Vacuum operated cruise control in cars, mechanical/pneumatic.
  • Resistor/capacitor 3D mesh water table models, electronic.
  • etc.

Digital computers on the other hand have discontinuous states that they jump from one to another.

  • ABC: Atanasoff-Berry Computer, simultaneous equation solver, 1942
  • ENIAC, late 1945
  • UNIVAC I
  • IBM 700 and 7000 series
  • DEC VAX
  • Desktops and laptops
  • Both of the computers in your cellphone
  • etc.

Hybrid computers are simply computer systems that combine both analog and digital computers together. Usually the digital computer controls the analog computer, reconfiguring it and entering new data each time the analog computer completes one problem, to have it solve a different one.

  • Most were custom "one off" systems built by individual labs or universities by buying a standard COTS digital computer and a standard COTS electronic analog computer, and customizing them to work together as needed.
  • One example of such a machine used a DEC minicomputer and an analog computer to model heat flow from a nuclear reactor fuel rod to circulating coolant. The analog computer was programmed on its plugboard to do a rapid solution through a single radial slice of the system, the digital computer was programmed to enter new parameters into the analog computer for each slice starting at the coolant entrance end of the fuel rod and collect and record the results of each slice. The machine could solve the problem to adequate accuracy much faster and more cheaply than an all digital system or all analog system of the time period.
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Why are the fourth generation computers called digital computers?

Because the first, second, and third generation computers were also digital computers.


Are most computers analog machines?

At this time, no, most computers are digital. However from the 1930s through the 1960s analog computers probably did outnumber digital computers as they were generally smaller and less expensive than digital computers.


How a digital computer work.how can we define a digital computer and analog cmputer?

Digital computers work with exact discretely coded representations of numbers.Analog computers work with approximate continuous representations of numbers.Hybrid computers are computers that are part digital part analog.I have used all three types, each has advantages.


Which is faster an analog computer or a digital computer?

built with the same level of technology, analog computers are always faster but less accurate than digital computers. however as little significant work on analog computers has been done since the 1980s, they currently significantly lag behind digital computers in speed.


What are the characteristics of digital analog and hybrid computers?

• digital computers work on discrete data representing quantities by encoding (e.g. integers, coded alphanumeric characters, coded floatingpoint numbers). • analog computers work on continuous data representing quantities by analogy (e.g. voltages, currents, shaft rotation rate, shaft position). • hybrid computers are a combination of digital & analog computers connected together to work as one machine.

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