{"id":26399,"date":"2016-04-28T21:01:59","date_gmt":"2016-04-28T13:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?p=26399"},"modified":"2016-04-28T20:53:47","modified_gmt":"2016-04-28T12:53:47","slug":"quantum-computing-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/quantum-computing-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Quantum Computing Explained (Like You Are A 5-Year-Old)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The concept of \"Quantum Computing\" recently going viral \u2013 thanks to a certain Prime Minister<\/a> \u2013 is one of the many uncharted territories of science by us non-scientific peeps<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The reason most of us haven\u2019t heard of it yet in spite of it being around for decades, is that for the most part it\u2019s theoretical<\/strong> and those who were experimenting on it at the beginning were very hush-hush<\/strong> about it due to the need for military and corporate secrecy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nonetheless, we now know that a quantum mechanics and computing combination exists and suddenly this is inside everybody\u2019s scope of interest. If you don\u2019t know what a quantum computer but don\u2019t want to be left out of the loop, read on to find out why it is better than the traditional computers we work with today.<\/p>\n

Of Traditional Computers and Bits<\/h2>\n

Computers are mostly digital-electronic and will interact with data represented in binary digits<\/strong> known as bits (0\u2019s and 1\u2019s). Be it images, text, audio or any other data \u2013 it\u2019s all stored in bits.<\/p>\n

Physically, the binary numbers 0 and 1 can be represented using any two-state entity<\/strong> like a coin (head and tail) or a switch (on or off). In computers, bits are the presence or absence of voltage<\/strong> (1 or 0), or change or preservation of magnetic direction<\/strong> in magnetic hard disks.<\/p>\n

Data is manipulated by computing the stored bits<\/strong>. Computation is done by logic gates which are typically made up of transistors that control the passage of electronic signal. If it allows the signal to pass through, it\u2019s the bit 1 and if the signal is cut off, it\u2019s 0.<\/p>\n

The Limits of Transistors<\/h2>\n

With the ever-shrinking chip size and growing number of components, electronic devices can come with millions of transistors that can be as small as 7nm<\/a> (which is 1000 times smaller than a red blood cell and only 20 times larger than some atoms).<\/p>\n

The size of transistors can continue to shrink but eventually, they\u2019ll hit a physical limit where electrons will just tunnel<\/a> through them and there\u2019ll be no control over the electronic signal flow.<\/strong><\/p>\n