Moore's Law
Transistor counts have roughly doubled every two years.
About this topic
Moore's Law is the observation, made by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore in 1965 and revised in 1975, that the number of transistors on a chip roughly doubles about every two years. This steady doubling is a big reason computers have become faster, cheaper and smaller for decades.
Doubling repeatedly is exponential growth. Starting with 2,300 transistors on the 1971 Intel 4004, doubling every two years gives billions by the 2010s, which matches real chips. More transistors let designers add cores, cache and special circuits, so performance and efficiency improved while price per calculation fell.
Today the law is slowing because transistors are approaching a few atoms in width, where heat and quantum effects cause problems. Engineers respond with multiple cores, specialised chips such as GPUs, stacked designs and new materials. A common misconception is that Moore's Law is a law of nature; it is really a prediction and an industry target. It also does not say that computers double in speed exactly, only that transistor counts did. It shows why planning for technology that is far better in ten years is reasonable.
Key ideas
- Chips get faster and smaller
- Physical limits approach
- Parallelism and GPUs help
Quick check
Use cases: where Moore's Law helps
- Homework: review the key idea behind Moore's Law before you start a problem set.
- Exam revision: use the quick check to test whether you can recall Moore's Law without notes.
- Visual learning: play with the interactive lab to see how Moore's Law changes when you adjust its inputs.
- Teaching a friend: explain Moore's Law in your own words, then compare your version with the key ideas.
Computing ideas run phones, search engines, games and the wider internet.
Frequently asked questions
What is Moore's Law?
Transistor counts have roughly doubled every two years.
What will I learn in Moore's Law?
Chips get faster and smaller. Physical limits approach. Parallelism and GPUs help.
Is Moore's Law part of Computer Science?
Yes. It is one of 80 Computer Science topics on LearnViz HighSchoolEdu, with 3 key ideas, a live animation and a quick check.
Does the Moore's Law lab work on a phone or tablet?
Yes. The animation resizes to fit your screen and supports touch, so you can drag, tap and slide with your finger.
How should I study Moore's Law?
Read the summary and key ideas first, play with the interactive lab to see the idea in motion, then answer the quick check. If you get a question wrong, go back to the key idea it tests.
Do I need an account, and is my progress saved?
No account is needed. Marking a topic as learned is saved in your own browser, so it stays on that device and is not sent to a server.