The Z5 was a computer designed by

Konrad Zuse Konrad Ernst Otto Zuse (; 22 June 1910 – 18 December 1995) was a German civil engineer, pioneering computer scientist, inventor and businessman. His greatest achievement was the world's first programmable computer; the functional program ...

and manufactured by Zuse KG following an order by

Ernst Leitz GmbH Ernst Leitz GmbH was a German corporation based in Wetzlar, a German centre for optics as well as an important location for the precision engineering industry, now divided into four independent companies: * Leica Camera, manufacturer of camera a ...

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

in 1950. The computer was delivered in July 1953 and was the first commercial built-to-order mainframe in Germany. The computer was purchased to help with the design of optical

lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

systems. The Z5 is the successor of the Z4, and is much more compact and powerful. Zuse implemented the machine with

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch ...

s, since

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied. The type known as ...

s were too unreliable at the time. The Z5 used the same principles as the Z4, but was six times faster. It also had

punched tape Five- and eight-hole punched paper tape Paper tape reader on the Harwell computer with a small piece of five-hole tape connected in a circle – creating a physical program loop Punched tape or perforated paper tape is a form of data storage ...

readers, which the Z4 did not have. It had conditional branching and five subroutine loops.

Specifications

* Frequency: ca. 40 Hz * Arithmetic unit: Floating point numbers (36 bit length) * Memory: 12 words, 36 bit * Speed: addition 0.1 second, multiplication 0.4 s, division 0.7 s * Power consumption: 5000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s * Weight: ca.

References

External links

Z5 information (German)
1950s computers Computer-related introductions in 1953 Konrad Zuse Computers designed in Germany Serial computers {{computer-stub