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Step 255 - What?
The 555 timer chip was the world's first integrated circuit. While nowadays this might not mean much to you or me, back in "the day" this revolutionized circuit building and begin the miniaturization trend which continues today.
More or less the 555 chip took an entire circuit and put it all in one simple package. So small and handy was this design that it originally cost over $5,000 for a single chip! The US Military bought up all the chips for years in order to build missiles. Yes, that's right. The 555 chip was originally used to shoot at missiles at communists. (Feel the power...)
That was then. You can buy one for all of $0.10 now. They're common.
But wait a second... we're using a 556 chip...
The 556 is really just two 555 chips put together. Which is why if you happen to have a bunch of 555 chips in your home, or can't find a 556 chip, you can use them instead.
So now you know the a bit about the historical chip you're using. (Can you tell I was a history major?)
A
More or less the 555 chip took an entire circuit and put it all in one simple package. So small and handy was this design that it originally cost over $5,000 for a single chip! The US Military bought up all the chips for years in order to build missiles. Yes, that's right. The 555 chip was originally used to shoot at missiles at communists. (Feel the power...)
That was then. You can buy one for all of $0.10 now. They're common.
But wait a second... we're using a 556 chip...
The 556 is really just two 555 chips put together. Which is why if you happen to have a bunch of 555 chips in your home, or can't find a 556 chip, you can use them instead.
So now you know the a bit about the historical chip you're using. (Can you tell I was a history major?)
A
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