Question

What are the advantages of integrated circuits (IC)?

Answer 1

Hint: Integrated circuits are small semiconductor devices containing several transistors. They have a board upon which millions of tiny transistors are attached and connected to form a clean and compact circuit. Along with transistors, resistors, capacitors and diodes can also be connected.

Complete step by step answer:
Integrated Circuits (IC) are small semiconductor devices which have revolutionized the electronics industry. They have a board upon which millions of transistors are connected together to form proper circuits.
Some advantages of integrated circuits are:
1) They can be mass produced and thus, their cost per transistor comes out to be very small.
2) They offer a clean and compact solution to circuit design and building. The same circuitry, if manufactured using discrete electronics, would take up a lot more space.
3) Since they are so small, they operate on very little power. They are very efficient.
4) They can be produced on a large-scale basis. Thus, their cost comes down to be very low. They are cheap and reliable.
5) You can get very consistent circuits. In circuits where more than one exactly equal transistor is required, integrated circuits come in handy as they have transistors that are exactly equal, since they were produced on the same silicon die and in the same batch. In discrete electronics, it is almost impossible to find two equal transistors. This may cause a problem in circuits requiring two branches with exactly equal circuitry. There are also minimal temperature differences between two elements in an IC.
They are usually extremely reliable, but if damaged can be replaced easily.

Note: There are disadvantages of Integrated Circuits also. Coils, inductors and high-grade p-n-p setups cannot be built on them, they can handle low amounts of power and thus an operation with a high voltage input or output cannot be performed using an Integrated Circuit.