Eli5: what is inside a cpu, and how does it perform thousands of calculations a second?

Question

Eli5: what is inside a cpu, and how does it perform thousands of calculations a second?

In: Technology

Answer 1

I’ll answer the first part.

Although, transistors are the correct answer, it’s probably not the answer to satisfy your curiosity. CPU chip basically consists of glass (~~silicone~~ silicon), that has been pumped with specific impurities in just the right places to give it desirable electrical characteristics. As a result – in some places silicone can conduct electricity, in others not, and in some places only conduct electricity under specific circumstances. Besides that this glass is also etched so that conductive metal like copper can be poured into it which gives the chip an electrical wire structure.

Using these and other methods more complex structures such as transistors and many other necessary electrical components are created in the chip.