Question

If the processing speed or clock speed of a microprocessor is 2.5 GHz, then the length of each full clock cycle should be _________ picoseconds. (an integer number)

Answer 1

The length of each full clock cycle for a microprocessor with a clock speed of 2.5 GHz is 400 picoseconds, which is calculated by taking the reciprocal of the frequency and converting to picoseconds.

Step-by-step explanation:

The processing speed or clock speed of a microprocessor indicates how many cycles it can perform in one second. If a processor has a clock speed of 2.5 GHz, it means it can perform 2.5 billion cycles per second. To find the length of each full clock cycle in picoseconds, we use the relationship between frequency and time period (the length of one cycle) which is given by the formula time period = 1 / frequency. This gives us:

1 cycle / 2.5 billion cycles per second = 1 / 2.5 x 109 seconds per cycle

Now we need to convert seconds into picoseconds, knowing that 1 second = 1012 picoseconds:

1 / (2.5 x 109) x 1012 picoseconds = 400 picoseconds per cycle.

Therefore, the length of each full clock cycle should be 400 picoseconds.