Computer Science 102: Fundamentals of Information Technology Ch 2. Computer Hardware & Software

Motherboard

Holds all of the circuitry that ties the functions of the computer components together

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Brains of the computer

Cache

Temporary memory where things you are working on sit for a quick interpretation by the CPU

Random Access Memory (RAM)

• Volatile, or temporary, memory

• Temporary and holds data and instructions for software currently in use

• disappears when a computer is turned off

• the data that contains instructions for processing computer operations

Read-Only Memory (ROM)

• Permanent, or non-volatile, memory and holds start-up instructions for the operating system

• does not go away when a company is shut down

Hard drive

• Stores the software you’ve installed

• Data files those programs have created and used

• Where programs and data are stored until specifically removed

Video card

• Process images so you can see them on your monitor

• Used to convert signals and process instructions so we can see images on the monitor

Sound card

• Lets us hear from an internal speaker

• Used to send sound through to speakers or headphones, or to receive input from microphones

Optical drive

• Read and written with a laser

• CD, DVD, and BluRay

Peripheral devices

• Sit around the system unit

• Components located around the system unit such as monitors, keyboards, mouse and speakers

Power

Receptacle that provides the electricity to the entire system unit

NIC

Network interface card, used to hardwire your system unit to a network

Wireless Card

Most commonly used for accessing wireless internet

_____ is used when computer programs are turned on. It is cleared once the machine is shut off.

1. The network interface

2. The optical disk

3. Random Access Memory (RAM)

4. Read Only Memory (ROM)

Random Access Memory (RAM)

_____ is used to plug peripherals into the system unit.

1. A USB port

2. An audio card

3. A video card

4. A flash drive

A USB port

What is the main function of the motherboard?

1. It processes the instructions given to a computer

2. It allows a computer to display video

3. It connects a computer to the internet

4. It ties together all of the functions of a computer

It ties together all of the functions of a computer

Brenda needs a _____ in order to see images on her computer screen.

1. network connection

2. hard drive

3. sound card

4. video card

video card

Which of the following is used to store programs installed on a computer?

1. CD drive

2. DVD drive

3. Video card

4. Hard drive

Hard drive

gigahertz (GHz)

is used to measure the speed of a computer

‘giga’

indicates a billion

hertz

the basic measurement of speed in a computer, indicating one cycle per second

CPU core

the key component of the CPU; it drives the tasks being performed

cache memory

volatile memory that, like RAM, the computer dumps when it shuts down

_____ is used to begin the start-up process for your computer.

1. ALU

2. CPU

3. RAM

4. ROM

ROM

Which of the following best describes the CPU?

1. It is the heart of the computer.

2. It is the brain of the computer.

3. It is the centrifugal processed unit.

4. It holds the volatile memory.

It is the brain of the computer.

Eight (8) gigahertz is how many cycles per second in a CPU?

1. 8 million

2. 8,000

3. 8 billion

4. 800,000

8 billion

Which of the following is also known as volatile memory?

1. USB

2. CPU

3. ROM

4. RAM

RAM

Which of the following provides a CPU with the quickest access to memory functions?

1. RAM

2. Bus selectors

3. Cache memory

4. ROM

Cache memory

computer memory

technically any type of electronic storage

What best describes computer memory?

1. Electronic storage

2. ROM

3. CPU

4. Virtual information

Electronic storage

When powered off, what does the computer do with the random access memory (RAM) used?

1. Deletes externally stored data

2. Saves to disk

3. Copies it to ROM

4. Wipes it

Wipes it

CPU stands for _____

1. Central programming unix

2. Central programming unit

3. Central processing unit

4. Computer processing unit

Central processing unit

RAM stands for _____

1. Read again memory

2. Random access machine

3. Random access memory

4. Random archived memory

Random access memory

Virtual memory is used to _____

1. Grant access to more memory than is available in RAM

2. Prevent multitasking

3. Add storage space to the hard disk

4. Increase available ROM

Grant access to more memory than is available in RAM

binary

only two possible values: zero and one

machine language

the most fundamental level of information

transistors

microscopic switches that control the flow of electricity

binary code

binary notation method

bit

binary digit

two bits

represents four different values:

• 00

• 01

• 10

• 11

three bits

represent eight different values:

• 000 | 001

• 001 | 101

• 010 | 110

• 100 | 111

character set

the characters we want to represent

American Standard Code for Information Exchange (ASCII)

• developed from telegraphic codes

• adapted to represent text in binary code in the 1960s and 1970s

Unicode

very much like ASCII, but it contains over 110,000 characters

pixels

binary code has also been developed to store other types of data, such as photographs, sound and video

byte

consists of eight binary digits, or eight bits

What is a bit?

1. A single binary digit

2. A single piece of data

3. The smallest storage unit of computer systems

4. A single transistor used to store binary information

A single binary digit

How many values can be represented with four bits?

1. 2

2. 4

3. 16

4. 8

16

Which of the following statements is FALSE?

1. ASCII uses a 7-bit binary coding system to represent 128 unique characters, while Unicode uses 8 or more bits to represent a much larger number of characters

2. ASCII and Unicode are both primarily used in the English language

3. ASCII and Unicode are both examples of character sets to represent text in binary code

4. Unicode contains characters for most of the world's printed languages

ASCII and Unicode are both primarily used in the English language

What is a byte?

1. A byte is the smallest storage unit of computer systems

2. A byte represents 256 unique binary codes

3. A byte consists of eight bits

4. A byte is a binary digit

A byte consists of eight bits

What is binary code?

1. A system to represent numbers, text and other information in binary digits

2. A conversion between human language and computer language

3. A system of zeros and ones to represent digital data

4. A system to represent all the language in the world in a single character set

A system to represent numbers, text and other information in binary digits

Input devices

the way we are able to get data into a computer

Keyboard

type on them to write a paper, or enter data on a form for online shopping…

Typewriters

machines that used a striking arm to hit an inked ribbon on a piece of paper

Ergonomics

the study of physical work habits and how they affect the muscle and skeleton of the employee

Mouse

used to input instructions or data by sending a signal to the computer based on hovering the curser and selecting with the left mouse button

Audio input

entry of data by some type of audio device

Video

the use of a visual-based technology to enter data into a computer

Tablet

a digitized surface and stylus pen to send input signals to the monitor

Cursor placement and the click of a button sends a signal to a system. What device does this describe?

1. Monitor

2. Mouse

3. Keyboard

4. Microphone

Mouse

A _____ allows you to enter data into a computer in the form of text.

1. mouse

2. peripheral

3. keyboard

4. device

keyboard

Which hardware is used to input data signals to a computer by touching a monitor?

1. Mouse

2. Audio input

3. Speaker

4. Touch screen

Touch screen

If Sheila wants to capture sound on her computer, she would need a _____.

1. microphone

2. keyboard

3. webcam

4. headphones

microphone

Phil's _____ designed keyboard offers a more natural typing position for his hands.

1. physiologically

2. QWERTY

3. kineisiologic

4. ergonomically

ergonomically

Output devices

how are you going to see and hear the data and information created and stored in your computer

Monitor

view the work we are doing at the time or to view a finished project

Liquid Crystal Display

layers of glass, polarized film, and liquid crystals. Electrical impulses are sent through, causing the color to be shown and image displayed

Light-Emitting Diode

LCD, but put a diode on the back that forces light through the layers for a sharper picture and colors

Printer

printers are used to create a tangible product to look at away from a monitor

Inkjet

liquid ink that is sprayed through a print head onto a piece of paper

Laser

use heat technology and specialized powder called toner (on another medium) that’s heat-sealed onto a piece of paper

Speakers

emit audio signals that may come from music files or other audio files

A laser printer uses _____ and _____ to seal text and images onto paper.

1. ink; sprayers

2. ink; embossing

3. heat; toner

4. carbon ribbon; pressure

heat; toner

Millie is a recording artist seeking to buy a device that processes audio output. Which device is she interested in?

1. Printer

2. Microphone

3. Speaker

4. Cartridge

Speaker

You are a student with limited finances, and you want to purchase a printer for occasional use for your school assignments. Which type of printer would BEST suit your needs?

1. An inkjet printer

2. A laser printer

3. A dot matrix printer

4. An all-in-one printer

An inkjet printer

Sanjay wants to purchase a new computer monitor that can handle his heavy gaming habit. Which of the following BEST fits his needs?

1. A TV-ready monitor

2. A standard monitor

3. A high-definition monitor

4. A 55-inch monitor

A high-definition monitor

Which device uses a diode to emit lights through liquid crystal panels in order to project an image to the user?

1. An LED

2. A CRT

3. An LCD

4. A plasma panel

An LED

Mainframe system

a large system with few programs and many users

Optical devices

written and read with a laser

Semiconductor

receives a charge to hold the data

Cloud storage

user utilizing an Internet connection to store data files

Which of the following is a magnetic storage device?

1. DVD

2. Flash drive

3. Portable hard-drive

4. None of these

5. CD

Portable hard-drive

Which of these storage devices can hold the most data?

1. Floppy disk

2. RAM

3. DVD

4. Hard drive

5. Flash drive

Hard drive

Which of the following uses a hard drive we can't see to store data using an Internet connection?

1. Optical storage

2. Digital storage

3. Cloud storage

4. Magnetic storage

5. Hard drive storage

Cloud storage

Which of the following saves data by using a laser?

1. Optical storage

2. Magnetic storage

3. ROM

4. Digital storage

5. Cloud storage

Optical storage

Into which main categories can storage devices be placed?

1. None of these

2. CD, DVD, BlueRay

3. ROM, RAM, Flash

4. Floppy, hard disk drive, zip

5. Magnetic, semi-conductor, optical

Magnetic, semi-conductor, optical

bit

expressed as the number 0 or 1 | 0 1

byte

a string of eight binary digits

kilobyte (KB)

1024 bytes

megabyte (MB)

1,000 kilobytes

How many possible unique combinations of binary digit sequences are there in a byte?

1. 256

2. 1024

3. 64

4. 526

256

Which of these answer choices is the largest unit of data?

1. Bit

2. Kilobyte

3. Megabyte

4. Gigabyte

Gigabyte

Which of the following is true of a bit in data storage?

1. A bit can be any of 256 possible combinations.

2. A bit is a binary digit.

3. 1000 bits is equal to one KB.

4. Bit is an alternative spelling for byte.

A bit is a binary digit

As of 2016, which unit of data storage is most common in the marketing of consumer electronics?

1. Terabyte

2. Kilobyte

3. Megabyte

4. Gigabyte

Gigabyte

How many megabytes are in a gigabyte using binary math?

1. 1024

2. 8

3. 256

4. 10,000

1024

data storage

a term for how information is kept in a digital format that may be retrieved at a later time

RAM

what computers use to hold information temporarily so it can be easily accessed by the computer as you work

hard disk drives

store data permanently so it can be retrieved at a later time, much like your own long-term memory

flash drives

small, portable storage devices that can be plugged into the USB port on a device

SD (secure digital) cards

small cards commonly used in digital cameras and smartphones to store files